Head above Water
by Valentine'sNinja
Summary: The smile that had been able to brighten up his bleak existence seemed to have burned out, but Vincent Valentine would not give up and let her slip through his fingers. VincentYuffie, rating for language.
1. Chapter 1

Wah! It's been ages again! I'm not dead, and hopefully my writing isn't, either. I've been kind of busy with school and work, and add to that a major case of writer's block, and it doesn't equal to quick updates. Still, I'm hoping that I still have some readers left and that you'll be interested in this new VinceYuffie fic I'm bringing you. I'm really inspired by this one, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to update quickly.

Also, keep in mind that this fic will have strong language and probably some adult scenes later on. While in the following chapters there will be some angst, talk on depression, and probably(though I'm not quite sure yet) some suicide themes, though there _won't_ be character deaths. Oh, and fluff. If you don't like any of these things, then please don't read!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters used in this piece of fiction. I am making no money off of them.

…

**Head above Water**

…

… _to stay…_

…_need… awake…_

…_Yuffie!_

Her vision was blurred and nearly the entirety of her body was numb. She couldn't quite figure out if she had been fighting, or why she was in the state she was in, but the world kept fading in and out every few minutes. It was possible that someone had been talking to her, too, but she couldn't be sure.

The white ceiling tiles were in motion and she could do nothing more than stare up at them, her breathing rushing out in quick gasps, her heart thundering in her ears. It left her feeling breathless and with a painful, heavy sensation in her chest.

…_know how conscious she is?..._

…_she's… into… shock…_

Oh, there was the pain, beginning to come back with a roar, and so was the sound of the world around her. Her eyelids felt heavy, and sticky red liquid was falling over her eyes. But despite the feeling of wrongness in her numb body, she recognized his voice, and from the corner of her eye she could see a blurred shape of black and red.

"…_Vin…?"_

"I'm here," he replied quickly, gazing down at her. "Yuffie? We're going to get you some help. You'll be okay. You _will_ get out of this," he said in a tone of voice she couldn't quite place.

"…where?"

"The WRO trauma center. They will help you."

She swore that she tried lifting her hand toward him, but her body was not responding to her commands. "Stay."

"I won't leave your side," he promised, voice even deeper in his worry.

A long breath left her just as darkness swallowed her whole.

…

"She's not breathing!" Vincent growled, but already the medical staff had started to work on her, wheeling her into a trauma room. One started with a respirator, while another pumped Yuffie's bloodied chest, and another hooked up various machines to her wounded body.

For the first time in his entire life—past and present—he found himself filled with panic at the sight of a bloodied body. She was too young to die, having barely lived her life, and there he stood, unable to do anything else but watch.

He had been sitting at home, having a quiet night and perusing a gardening magazine when he had gotten the call from Reeve regarding the incident at Midgar's ground zero. At first, Reeve hadn't wanted to tell him who had been involved, only that one of the reactors that they had thought shutdown had gone off in flames. But Vincent had quickly realized that Reeve would only have been offering the information if it pertained to something involving him or the rest of AVALANCHE directly…

He had been instructed to head towards the medical wing of the WRO, and to the emergency room on the first floor to be exact. He had stared incredulously when a helicopter had landed right in front of the building's entrance, and even more so when a stretcher and various medical staff had raced out to meet the chopper.

But he'd understood when one of the WRO soldiers stepping out of the helicopter had carried with him a large and familiar weapon.

"Yuffie," he whispered in shock when his eyes took in the state her body was in. The blood had been leaking from her generously while the nurses and doctors tried to cover the wounds with gauze. He'd also caught sight of some burns, and possibly a broken arm. He'd been rendered completely speechless at the sight of her.

Her eyes had opened a sliver at the sound of his voice, but it had taken them minutes to get her lucid enough to speak to him.

Then she had stopped breathing.

His heart had stuttered in his chest when the machine had garbled that flat line as soon as it had been hooked up to her, and he had waited with bated breath while they got her breathing again and her vital signs registered. He tuned out the doctor's assessment of her injuries and just focused on Yuffie herself, wishing that he could move closer and at least hold her hand, but he knew he'd only be getting underfoot.

Her eyes were closed, her face bloodied and covered with smudges of black, and the blood had soaked the front of her clothes. She looked nothing like the woman he had come to know and care for.

"Sir? Mr. Valentine?"

He looked up, finally realizing that one of the nurses had been trying to catch his attention. "What?"

"You need to step out. We will be removing her clothes to treat the rest of her wounds and I don't suppose that she would appreciate anyone seeing her. Unless… you have a connection with her that would allow you to stay?"

Vincent shook his head once and moved to leave the room, only stopping to get a last look at her bruised face. _You can make it out of this, Yuffie. I believe in you_, he told her silently. Then he turned and left her in the hands of the medical team working hard to save her, taking up a post outside the door.

…

He spent the longest moments of his life waiting in that hallway.

Vincent had seen Reeve pass down the hall a few times, his ear glued to the phone and harassing the nurses for updates on Yuffie, but there had been nothing to say, only that they were still working to stabilize her.

But he'd stood there silently, waiting.

It took more than two hours to finally hear from one of the trauma doctors. Since Reeve was the closest thing to family Yuffie had in the city, he was allowed to receive the report of her health.

The explosion had done a number on her and the other survivors apparently. They would need to be under close observation for Mako poisoning and their other serious injuries and burns. One of her arms was in a cast, she had various contusions and cuts, a concussion, and she would probably be on forced bed rest for at least two weeks once she was released. Then it would be even more weeks before she would be able to return to work at the WRO.

He wondered how Yuffie would take all of the information once she awoke.

Vincent supposed that none of it mattered as long as she _lived._ The next few days would probably be physically painful for her, but she would be okay. This was Yuffie, and he had seen her bounce back from worse situations.

Sighing to himself, Vincent waited patiently to hear when they would be able to see her next. There was a worry in his chest that wouldn't abate until he was allowed to see her for himself. Strangely, this thought didn't worry him. What worried him was seeing the state she had been left in…

…

A week and a half later and the hospital seemed to have become his second home. Yuffie had remained under a medically induced coma so that she could heal from the concussion she had suffered. They had all taken turns watching over her, and while he had been used to solitude and silence, he had to admit that it unnerved him to be in a room with Yuffie and not have her voice chattering on about inane things.

The sight of her bruised face, the bandages, and the cast on her broken arm—green because he knew she would probably annoy him for allowing the doctors to give her a "lame" white cast— made her look vulnerable and he didn't like the feeling invading his heart.

He'd learned to deal with loss and not let it influence his emotions while a Turk, but despite the training still present in his mind, he wasn't that man anymore. He had died that night more than thirty years ago on the dusty floor of the ShinRa manor. He'd been reborn thinking himself a monster, but had it not been for all of his enhancements and the demons in his head, the world would've perished. Yuffie and AVALANCHE along with it.

Now here he was, watching the slow rise and fall of Yuffie's chest as she breathed on her own. The machines next to her were steady and had been for a day now, signaling the fact that she was healing. The doctor had told Reeve that this meant that she would be allowed to awaken sometime soon.

Until then, Vincent found that he would weather the silence without Yuffie there to constantly irritate him. He'd already gone through several books in a matter of days, though he could just about imagine what the ninja would have to say to him about that.

Setting the old book on her bedside table, he leaned his elbows on his knees and crossed his fingers, eyes on her face. Some of the bruises were beginning to change color, and the swelling of some of her wounds had left completely. He managed a feeble smirk at the thought of Yuffie seeing herself in a mirror in the condition she was in.

The smirk quickly died down at the sight of her slack face. She didn't look the same without some kind of emotion on her features… Silly as she was sometimes, she always had a smile or some sign of playfulness on her face, and he hadn't realized how eager he was to see it again.

Leaning back in his chair he grabbed his book once more. The day had just started and he would remain by her side for as long as possible. He wouldn't hear the end of it if she awoke and found out that he hadn't been guarding her sleep like the rest of their friends.

…

She felt herself groan even before her eyes opened. Her entire body felt as if it had been hit by Bahamut SIN, and her head was pounding a steady rhythm; it was far worse than any hangover she'd suffered through in the past, she realized. Opening her eyes slowly, Yuffie was thankful that the room was only dimly lit, but found that the light still burned through her eyes. "W-where…?" she trailed off, throat scratchy and dry.

"Here," muttered someone from nearby. "You're in the medical wing of the WRO."

Yuffie turned her head slightly to look at the source and found Cid's grimacing face. "Hey," she whispered. "What are you doing here and how long was I out?"

"You nearly croaked," Cid replied gruffly, but despite his tone Yuffie could tell that he had been worried. "It's been more than a week."

Had she taken her drink any sooner, she would've spat it back out at that piece of information. But as it was, Yuffie found herself quite thirty so she took another sip of water before speaking. "Old man, you should know me better than that by now. I'm too stubborn to die. Being passed out for a week isn't so bad." She tried to smile but didn't know if she'd been successful.

Cid was not amused, but his worry for her was touching. Despite feeling warm at the fact that Cid would miss her if she were gone, she was annoyed by his continued staring.

"What?" she asked.

"You died. You stopped breathing for a while and they brought you back," Cid said in a low voice. "_Then_ you were in a fuckin' coma for nearly two weeks!"

She tried to shrug and barely twitched. "But I'm awake now."

"Damn it, stop taking this so easily!" Cid yelled, making her jump slightly.

"What the fuck do you want me to do, jackass?" She would've screamed the words at him if she hadn't felt out of breath, but instead her voice came out breathy and small.

The door to her room opened at the commotion and a doctor walked in, followed closely by Vincent and Tifa.

"What's going on?" asked the brunette.

"Nothing is fuckin' wrong!" Cid snarled, nearly stomping out of the room.

Yuffie sighed quietly to herself and looked away from her other two friends as they gave her worried looks. Well, Tifa looked worried; Vincent just gave her a neutral look.

"I'm not dead, okay? I may not be kicking yet, but I'm still here!"

"Yuffie..." Tifa started.

"Don't."

Tifa stared, wondering what had come over her but she didn't pry. Yuffie had been through enough already and the last thing she needed was to be bombarded with questions and worries.

"I'm going to give you a brief examination, Miss Kisaragi," the doctor said, interrupting the tension in the room.

Vincent stepped out to give her some privacy and only stepped back in once the doctor left. Tifa had taken a seat at Yuffie's bedside and was holding her uninjured hand, but the ninja didn't look like she wanted to be touched. He supposed that she hadn't pulled away so as not to hurt the martial artist's feelings.

"I need the two of you to be honest with me. How many people died in the explosion of the reactor?" Yuffie asked in a solemn tone.

Vincent shifted his stance and Tifa turned to look at him in worry.

"I'll find out sooner or later," Yuffie snapped.

The brunette released her hand and stood, crossing her arms over her chest. "What you need now is some rest. No, don't fight me," Tifa warned with a look she probably used on the children; it seemed to work on Yuffie, too. "You rest up and we'll help heal those injuries little by little with materia if the doctor okays it. After that, Reeve will want to debrief you and you will know what went on. But for now, no."

Yuffie looked like she wanted to argue, or maybe throw a tantrum, but she turned to stare at the opposite wall like a petulant child. "Fine."

"Good. I'm going to go call your father to let him know that you're okay," said Tifa before she walked out of the room.

Vincent watched Yuffie sigh forlornly and wondered over her change of attitude. He knew that she must've been in pain—both physical and emotional—but she had always taken things in stride. Now, now she just seemed like a jumble of emotions, starting with anger.

He took the seat Tifa had vacated and remained quiet as he let her get her thoughts in order.

"The doc said that I won't be able to use Conformer for a while," she said, motioning vaguely to her broken arm.

"I… have faith that you will be able to handle it," he replied in a low voice.

Her eyes returned to his in a flash and she sighed quietly. "I don't—" She paused, frustrated. "I've never been at fault for the death of people. I've taken out plenty, but it was a life or death situation. This—they were under my command and I must've missed something. Now they're dead because of me and you won't tell me how many of my squad are gone."

"It's not as if you willingly sent them in to die, Yuffie. This was an accident."

She didn't offer a reply to his words, instead staring down at her cast. "I hate hospitals," she muttered, hoping he would drop it.

"You will be here for a few more days," Vincent supplied. "The doctors need to test you every few hours to make sure that the Mako that touched you does not turn dangerous."

Another sigh. "Can I at least sit up?" she asked, forcing her body up, and promptly beginning to cough and groan as her ribs gave her a very painful protest. "Fuck!"

Vincent got quickly to his feet and pressed her back down as gently as he possibly could, his eyes narrowed at her foolish action. "Should I call for a nurse to tranquilize you?" he asked when she tried to shove off his arms.

Yuffie glared at him. "You wouldn't dare."

"I'll hold you down myself while she doses you."

They had a tense moment of glaring before Yuffie relaxed back against the bed and coughed a few more times, her ribs painfully reminding her that she had done something stupid just now. But she hated being bedridden, and she hated the fact that Vincent and Tifa were keeping things from her, and even more, she hated the fact that she had worried her friends to the point where Cid was angry and Tifa had regained that look of distress she'd lost when Cloud had returned.

Tears came unbidden to her eyes then and Yuffie turned her face away from Vincent, not wanting him to see her in that state. She must've looked pathetic because he released the pressure he had been exerting on her shoulders and simply squeezed the uninjured one gently.

"You have been through a traumatic experience, Yuffie. The best you can do is rest now," he said, quiet.

She coughed a little more and closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would reclaim her quickly. She didn't want to deal with her feelings of failure, or of guilt. People had died because of her, and she was honestly beginning to wonder why she hadn't gone with them.

…

…

…

…

…

…

I feel bad for Yuffie now(and this is just the beginning), but I've been in the mood for angst lately and this is the result of it. I'm not quite sure how long this will be, but it won't be an epic like my other fics. I might just keep it at five or less, if the plot-bunnies cooperate with me, or I might just do shorter chapters and quicker updates. Dunno, want to vote on which you'd prefer? Long chapter and slow updates, or short chapters and quicker updates? But anyway, thanks so much for reading and please pardon any typos or grammar errors!


	2. Chapter 2

Just a quick update before I leave the city for a small trip. Thank you so much for such a positive response for chapter one and hopefully chapter two won't disappoint. Prepare for language and angst so…

And yay! The whistle from _The Hunger Games_ is my new ringtone. I should be reading the books this week for springbreak, so prepare for fic sometime soon! Go team Peeta! Now… fangirl moment is over.

Random fact... My birthday is on Monday so give me some love!

…

**Chapter Two**

…

She stared down at her legs dangling over the side of the hospital bed. Tifa had helped her lace up her boots, and had also commented on a different choice of footwear while her arm remained in a cast. Yuffie had narrowed her eyes. Tifa had asked her to change her style, and well, she was too cool to use sneakers. She grinned to herself and shook her head, deciding that she would go barefoot if she had to.

After debating with fellow doctors, hers had decided that for now it wouldn't be safe to use materia to heal her wounds, since they didn't know what kind of negative effects it would have on the Mako that had invaded her system after the explosion of the reactor.

She would be in a great deal of pain for the next few weeks, or at least until the next test proved that the Mako had gone down to a safer level or something. This also meant that breathing and walking at the same time would be a problem.

She'd been walking since before she had turned one, and then running and bouncing all around the pagoda… Yuffie couldn't remember when she had been so severely injured that she'd been forced to stay in bed for weeks. _I'm a ninja, damn it. I can't stay still for more than ten minutes!_

"Are we going to have to talk you into sitting in the wheelchair until we're outside?" Tifa asked from the door.

Yuffie shook her head and offered a small smile. "Nah. I won't try to act like I'm too good to be wheeled out. My ribs hurt too much to try that right now," she said, slowly sliding off of the bed and sitting on the chair before Tifa could even think of helping her. The little move had her gasping a little in pain and Tifa glared anyway.

"Cid said that he had some really important errands to run, so he couldn't be here to fly us back to the bar," Tifa said casually.

"Cid's an asshole," Yuffie muttered.

"Yuffie…"

"No, Teef. He bit my head off after I tried to cheer him up," Yuffie muttered. "Don't make excuses for him."

"Yuffie, we were so afraid that we had lost you. Can you really blame him for his behavior? Cid doesn't respond well to stress and we both know it," said Tifa quietly, handing her the bag with items they would need to clean and bandage her wounds at home.

"What about the flowers?" Yuffie asked, motioning to the variety of blooms many of her friends had sent over. Curiously, one yellow lily from Aerith's church had been sitting at her bedside table, and Tifa hadn't known who'd set it there. The ninja would've assumed Vincent, but then again, he wasn't the sentimental—or romantic—type…

"Reeve said that he would have them transported for you later in the day," Tifa replied, beginning to wheel her out of the room.

To Yuffie's surprise, Vincent was the one who had been speaking in quiet tones with her doctor, waiting for her discharge papers. He was also nodding along to what Yuffie could now hear as things she needed to avoid. Narrowing her eyes, the ninja listened on as well, hating the fact that the one time she needed it, her precious materia was failing her. She wouldn't be allowed to walk up and down the stairs on her own for a good week, and she couldn't practice her ninja training until well after the cast was off, and she needed to take all of the pills that would make her sleep for the majority of the day to help her heal.

She also had her wounds to worry about, and the one burn that would need to be cleaned daily on her shoulder. She wanted to cry in frustration and anger, and still Tifa, Vincent, and Reeve wouldn't tell her how many of her unit had been killed.

Well, she'd find out soon enough once she was back at the bar. She hoped that Reno stopped by eventually, since he was one of the very few who always told her things straight. It was too bad that she couldn't count on her closest friends to do that for her.

"We'll see you back here in a few days, Miss Kisaragi. If you feel dizziness, nausea, or a lot of pain, please return _immediately_."

Yuffie nodded and shook the man's hand. "Yeah, thanks doc, for saving my life and all."

"We're happy that you were willing to fight to survive," he replied. "Otherwise we would've had plenty of powerful people angry at us."

Tifa offered a smile while Vincent simply crossed his arms over his chest. Yuffie could see what the doctor meant; her friends could appear pretty intimidating. Not to mention that Reeve, the-boss-man, treated her like a little sister, too._ Most of the time._

She waved as Tifa pushed her chair and sighed quietly to herself, wondering what she would do with herself the next few days. She was so used to wandering whichever direction she felt like on that particular day, but she would now be confined by four walls and various powerful heroes.

Once they arrived at the hospital's entrance, Yuffie noted that there was a Shadow Fox waiting for them, Barret at the wheel. He got out and gave Yuffie a salute. "Good to see you alive, kid."

"Thanks, Barret. Were you part of the group watching over me?"

"I don't have the patience for that, girl, but I did come around to give vampire a break or two during the day. I'm glad you're still with us," he said gruffly.

Yuffie nodded and took his hand when he offered to help her stand. She grimaced when her ribs continued to protest, and started in surprise when Vincent took her other arm.

"Would you like me to carry you?" he asked, tone neutral.

"N-nah, don't worry about me, Vinnie! I can make it by myself," she muttered, hoping that she wasn't blushing too horribly.

Tifa tried not to giggle and returned the chair to the nurse who had walked out with them.

"Besides, the quicker I get back on my feet, the better," the ninja muttered, squeezing Vincent's arm and Barret's hand as she took slow steps.

"Yeah, well, just don't rush it. The last thing you need is to screw up your ribs again. I know from personal experience that shit like that hurts like hell and can be dangerous."

"Yeah, yeah. It's not like I'm going to try jumping off of the roof." She shrank a little at the glare in Vincent's eyes. "I promise I won't!"

"Reeve had this one fixed up for you," said Barret, opening up the back of the truck and showing Yuffie that a sort of gurney type of bed had been installed for her. Before she could protest though, Barret released her and moved over to push a button that would allow the bed to shift into a reclining position.

"Remind me to thank Reeve for everything he's doing for me," Yuffie said as Vincent led her to the bed and helped her sit back.

"I'll ride up front with Barret if you don't mind," said Tifa as she winked at Yuffie and closed the doors before either she or Vincent could say a thing.

"So…" muttered Yuffie as the truck took off and silence stretched between her and the gunman.

"How is your pain?" he asked.

"Manageable. You forget that I'm a ninja, Vince. I can handle some pain," she said with a small smile.

He nodded once. "That's good."

"Look… why won't you just tell me how many of our guys were killed?" Yuffie asked softly.

"I think Tifa explained things to you quite clearly. Besides, you will need to be debriefed first and Reeve is waiting for you to recover to do it."

"If you won't come out and tell me then it means that a lot of them," Yuffie said, voice shaking slightly.

"Yuffie—"

"Vincent, I had twenty guys under my command when that reactor went off. I was walking ahead with five of them. The reactor was off and everyone had been ordered to touch nothing until the tech made sure that it was completely off line. What the hell happened?" Yuffie asked, frowning.

"Reeve has people investigating whether or not it was purposely turned back on. It might've been some Deepground stragglers; it might've been someone else. He doesn't know for sure yet."

"Who could've turned it back on?" she asked, eyes narrowed. "It's a restricted area."

"We can't be sure yet. Reeve will tell you all he knows as soon as your week of forced bed rest is up," said Vincent.

"Are you friggin' kidding me? This is bullshit," she snapped, sulking back like a child.

"I will be staying at Seventh Heaven to make sure that you don't do anything foolish," he commented.

_That's bullshit, too! I don't need a babysitter! _She glared and wondered if Vincent was a mind reader, since his eyes had gone frosty. "I hate this," she muttered, closing her eyes.

"Stop and consider how many people would've been hurt with your death, Yuffie. Always think of them when you feel that this is all too difficult to bear," said Vincent seriously.

"Gee, Vinnie, you sure know how to cheer up a girl," she said, smirking.

He grunted—his equivalent to a shrug—and sat back in his chair. "I try my best," he said in a low voice.

Yuffie smiled to herself and remained quiet for the rest of the trip.

…

Barely a few hours into her stay at Tifa and Cloud's home and already she was going crazy. Denzel and Marlene had stopped by to see her for a while and Marlene had showed off her fluency in reading, while Denzel had commented on how he would've changed the story to make it better.

Tifa had ushered them out when Yuffie had started to laugh and cry at the pain in her ribs, telling the children that the ninja needed to rest for the next few days before she could spend more time with them. Yuffie wanted to break into tears of boredom as she stared at the window overlooking what was left of the ShinRa building.

Her thoughts ran in circles as she remembered the mission Reeve had sent her on. They had received report that some patrol soldiers had seen some movement near one of the less damaged reactors. Reeve had sent her out to investigate with a squad of her own, telling her that while he trusted her skills, he would be less worried for her safety if she had some back-up.

They had arrived to what would've been the Sector 1 reactor and had set up a perimeter to make sure that no one was around. Then she and her group of five had gone into the reactor, confident that it had not been powered.

There was a small gap in her memory after this, but she could've sworn that at the time of the explosion no electrical power had been going through the reactor. Then… why had it exploded? Had it been some unstable reserve of Mako?

She sighed and rolled onto her other side, rubbing her nose as a sneeze threatened her. She had her pain pills—which would help with the sudden, pulsating ache in her ribs—but then she'd be out for about three to four hours.

"Yuffie?"

The ninja lifted her head and glanced at her friend. "Yeah?"

"Would you like something sweet to cheer you up?" Tifa asked, smiling.

"Depends on what your definition of sweet is. Last time you got me good when you tried to feed me sugar-less pudding," Yuffie muttered.

The brunette looked slightly offended as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared. "I was just trying to promote healthy snacks," she muttered.

"Healthy stuff usually sucks balls."

"Yuffie!"

"Sorry. I'm a little cranky," Yuffie supplied, rolling over to face her with some difficulty.

Tifa looked worried again. "Are you in pain?" she quickly gathered the prescription pills the doctor had given Yuffie and removed one.

"Those knock me out for too long!" Yuffie complained.

"Well, I'm baking a chocolate fudge cake topped with strawberries. Now, if you take this pill, then I promise to give you a nice big piece when you wake up," Tifa cajoled.

Yuffie grinned. "You've become a pro at the negotiating thing."

"I've had plenty of practice."

"I don't think I want to take the offer just yet."

Tifa looked thoughtful for a moment. "What if… I have Vincent deliver it to you?"

The ninja would've giggled but her ribs were starting to feel as if they had been set on fire… "I'll take that offer," she said, accepting the pill and the glass of water.

Tifa smiled brightly and nodded. "Get some rest and the cake should be done soon."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll have it with a tall glass of milk, too, please!"

Tifa waved as she walked out of the room, trying to figure a way to rope Vincent into delivering the cake to Yuffie later on…

…

When next she opened her eyes, her room had gone completely dark and for a moment her heart nearly shot out of her chest in alarm.

"Yuffie."

She bit back a scream and chucked her spare pillow at him, groaning as her muscles reminded her that they weren't quite healed yet. "Why the hell are you hiding out in the dark?"

"…I wasn't hiding."

"Then what are you doing?" she hissed, turning her bedside lamp on and squinting as the light hit her sensitive eyes.

"Waiting for you to get up. Tifa left this for you," he said, pointing toward the napkin covered plate on the nightstand.

_So she didn't get him to bring it_, Yuffie thought, narrowing her eyes. Still, she'd never been one to say no to chocolate… or strawberries… or Vincent eye-candy. Slowly she pushed herself to a reclining position and reached for the plate with her good hand, only to find Vincent already holding it out to her.

"Thanks," she said quietly, placing it on her lap and taking a self-conscious bite with Vincent watching. It felt like she hadn't had something sweet in years... and it tasted amazing. Tifa had outdone herself; probably because she felt sorry that she had been confined to a bed for a week. The cake was soft and spongy, almost too much to take in after the bitterness of the medications… and the sterile taste in the back of her throat from the hospital.

Yuffie swallowed the bite in her mouth and sighed heavily, feeling sad. Suddenly she didn't feel like eating the cake anymore and after another two small bites, she placed the plate back onto the nightstand. What right did she have to enjoy something sweet and delicious when there were families mourning their dead loved ones? The same people she had been in charge of…

Vincent watched curiously as she grabbed her glass of water and sipped quietly, her gaze avoiding his and he wondered what had come over her. Yuffie had never been one to give up something sweet. "Would you like to be alone?"

His soft voice startled her a little, and more so when she realized what he was asking. If there was anyone who would understand when she needed to have some solitude, it would be Vincent. But no, she didn't want him to leave. His presence was comforting and it meant so much to her that he was still around, that he had come to spend time with her instead of brooding off on his own.

"No," she said, smiling slightly. "I just don't feel too hungry, I guess."

Vincent nodded once but was not convinced by her words. After all, this was the girl he had once seen eat an entire cake on her own for a previous birthday—well, she'd _generously_ shared with Denzel and Marlene but with no one else. She'd had the mother of all stomach aches afterwards but she'd been pleased with herself.

"Cid is here," he said after a long moment of silence.

Her eyes slid to his and she shrugged.

"Would you like to see him?"

"Does he even want to see me?"

The gunman made a small sound. "He was by your side many of the afternoons when Tifa was not able to remain here for too long."

"That doesn't give him the right to yell and curse at me," muttered Yuffie, pulling her blankets higher around her.

"As opposed to the way he usually speaks to you?"

Yuffie smirked. "You're right. But I don't think I have it in me to hear him cursing right now. I need my rest, you know," she said, turning slowly to her other side and staring at the window and the dark sky.

"Then… I don't suppose that you will mind if I remain here and read my book?"

A secret smile curled her lips. "Just try not to breathe too loudly."

"I will do my best."

Yuffie bit back a small giggle.

…

When she next awoke, the sun was barely rising and her body felt cramped. Vincent was gone and her body immediately let her know that she needed to use the bathroom. She hadn't been allowed to walk on her own for a while, but she was very much against the idea of calling someone to come and help her.

Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, Yuffie slowly stood, wincing as her muscles cramped and throbbed with the sudden movement. She was okay. She'd been trained from a very young age to withstand pain and this wouldn't defeat her.

Letting out a slow breath, she moved toward the door, breathing deeply to try to control the pain. She made it to the doorway of the bathroom before she very nearly face-planted with the floor, and was grateful that no one had heard her. She went about her business and even found the strength to brush her teeth, since she didn't want to talk to Vincent with dragon breath.

As she was making her way back to her room, quiet voices caught her attention from down the stairs, probably the kitchen. Standing at the top of the stairs, she wondered if she'd be able to make it down to see who it was. They'd probably lecture her, but she needed to get some walking done.

The first few steps were a breeze, but half-way down she could feel her knees begin to shake. Sitting down before she fell down the stairs and woke everyone up, she took a few quick, shaky breaths and put her head between her knees when a wave of nausea swept over her.

Despite her discomfort and the ache in her muscles, she could recognize the voices now. Tifa was one of them, and the other… was Cid. Huh, so the old pilot had stayed over. Yuffie wondered how Shera was doing, and why the old man was still around after all this time. Hadn't he gone home?

Convinced that she wouldn't stumble or hurl, Yuffie got to her feet and finished the rest of the stairs, making her way toward the bar. Tifa would probably give her an earful, but it would be worth it when she saw the look on the old man's face.

"…this is bullshit, Teef. The brat shouldn't be left in the dark after this long," Cid was saying in a low voice. "I get that she almost died, but if I were in her place, I'd want to know what the hell is going on."

"It can wait a few more days, Cid. Then the Mako will be out of her system and we'll be able to heal her so that she can see Reeve. We just want what's best for her. I thought you'd want that, too."

"I do. You sure as hell know I do," said Cid. "Still, she'll be pissed that kept important shit from her."

She started to open her mouth to ask what exactly they were keeping from her when Tifa answered her question unknowingly.

"It's not her fault that only two squad members survived," Tifa murmured sadly. "The reactor was supposed to be offline, especially after we bombed it during the whole Omega incident."

Yuffie covered her mouth with shaky fingers and took a step back, away from the doorway. This—this meant that eighteen of her squad were dead! _Eighteen!_ Her heart was pounding erratically in her chest as she thought of their faces… their names. She had known each and every one of them. Had gone out for drinks with more than half, and had _met_ the families of the other half.

Her eyes blurred with tears as she backed toward the stairs, unwilling to let them see that she had heard them. As she turned to force her weak body up the flight of stairs, she slammed into a warm wall, and had he not been there to catch her, she would've gone down awfully loud.

As it was, her breathing was coming in small gasps and she didn't know why she was so affected. She'd seen death left and right since she'd turned sixteen. She should've been able to deal with this.

"Yuffie—"

"Just—just get me upstairs, please," she said in a small voice, shaking her head.

Vincent didn't say another word as he easily picked her up and carried her silently to her room. She was shaking in his arms, and it made him anxious to think that she would burst into tears, especially considering that he wouldn't know what to do with her in that condition.

When he made it back to her room, he placed her gently onto her bed and watched her curl into a small ball. "Thanks," she muttered. "You can go now. Just… don't tell Tifa and Cid that I was eavesdropping, okay?"

"Yuffie, we should talk about this."

"About the fact that I killed eighteen people?" she asked blankly.

Vincent shook his head once. "That is not what happened and you know it, Yuffie."

"Doesn't matter," she said with a long, shuddery sigh. "Will you call Reeve and let him know that I'm ready to know everything now? If you don't, I'll find a way to get out of the bar and hitchhike my way to the WRO headquarters."

He narrowed his eyes at her threat. "In a houseful of people who lived in constant vigilance for years, do you believe that it would be easy for you to escape?" In top condition, yes, but not the way she was now.

"Get out of my room, please."

"I will stand vigil outside your window if I have to."

She shrugged and closed her eyes. "I'm not a child anymore, Vincent. I hate being kept in the dark."

"Then gather your strength before you attempt to see Reeve. You will need it."

Her body felt heavy and her heart even more so, weighed down by guilt and anger, and disappointment in her friends. Yuffie knew that they wanted to protect her, but had they told her everything in the hospital, she wouldn't have felt the blow of the news so badly.

Vincent walked out of her room before the first sob tore through her chest. The rest she tried her best to muffle into her pillow. Tifa would be up to check on her soon and Yuffie didn't have the strength in herself to talk to her friend. Not now.

When she finally regained her breath, she reached into the nightstand and removed a glowing orb. Materia had never failed her before... Maybe it wouldn't this time, regardless of what the doctor had said.

She needed answers now and she wouldn't sit back and let her friends coddle her anymore.

…

…

…

…

…

…

Please excuse any typos or grammatical errors. They usually escape me when I read through, and I know that a beta would come in handy, but I'm too impatient for one. And Valk doesn't do this pairing… But anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed, Yuffie is being particularly difficult when her friends are trying to help, so she might not be making the smartest decisions... Anyway, hope everyone has a great spring break!


	3. Chapter 3

I really, really haven't forgotten this story. I've just been really busy, and sick, and school is almost over. but this fic is my current inspiration and I'm happy with how it's going so far. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and thanks so much for the reviews for last chapter!

…

Guardian

…

"_Hey! How about drinks after the mission? I need to unwind, and the wife is over with her mother for the night. Commander Kisaragi? Andrews? Harris?"_

"_Ha, are you sure that she won't be calling to check up on you every five minutes? You know how she gets when you don't answer the phone, Keith."_

"_Hardy-har-har, Harris. You always talk smack because you think you know better than the rest of us…"_

"_Pipe down you two," Yuffie scolded, eyes scanning the wreckage of what had once been a metropolis of a city._

"_Sure thing, commander."_

_Yuffie rolled her eyes but grinned to herself. "Besides, he does know better than the rest of us. Harris is about to hit the big 2-5 with his wife."_

"_No shit?" asked Keith, one of the younger recruits. "You've been married _that_ long?"_

_Harris was not amused at the amazed tone in the younger man's voice. "Why is that so shocking?"_

"_He didn't think you were that old," Yuffie said, smirking._

"_What is this? Gang-up-on-Harris day?" he asked, shifting his weapon and glaring at the hotheads around him. "And yes, Commander Smartass, I'm that old _and_ I've been married that long."_

_Everyone broke into snickers and chuckles at the man's words, and Yuffie just shook her head as they moved ahead. It was good to know that Reeve trusted her enough to lead a squad. These men and women had quickly become her good friends during training, and while she hadn't really taken a squad out herself, it was a nice change of air. It made her feel more mature and responsible._

_Crunching broken concrete under her boots, Yuffie's eyes scanned the broken terrain, wondering how much of Deepground was still lurking about and trusting that the ones in charge of the scanning device would give them enough of a warning if they were ambushed. Nothing seemed out of place in the barely standing buildings, but they would not let their guards down in a place where so much had already happened. The stragglers were usually killed on sight, seeing as they were always hostile, but a few had been captured to be examined by WRO scientists. It made a shudder run down her spine to wonder what had been done to those men and women who had "volunteered" for the Deepground program._

"_Check your communicators to make sure that nothing is running interference," she told them, making sure to check on her own. Reeve had stressed the importance of having open communication while he was briefing her, and while she had rolled her eyes at him, she'd made sure to remember to do everything he asked; he was, after all, the boss and he always seemed to be right about everything._

_Reaching the reactor didn't pose a problem for them, and as she looked at it, Yuffie wondered why they were investigating it. The thing seemed to be nothing but a pile of scrap metal, ready to be recycled and with no power coursing through it._

"_Five of you are with me," said Yuffie, motioning for a hole in the side of the reactor. "The rest of you follow at a distance. Watch our backs and yours."_

_The inside of the reactor wasn't any different. Everything was powered down, loose wires, crumbled cement walls and warped metal. The place gave her the creeps and a shudder ran down her spine._

"_Check the lower levels," she whispered into her ear piece._

_The five she had taken ahead with her moved forward, flashlights bright in the shadows of the reactor. The sun outside was high and bright, but the ruins of the ruins of the ShinRa headquarters seemed to cast everything around it in darkness._

_A clanking noise ahead of them made them all stand at attention, weapons drawing up. Yuffie pulled her Conformer forward and motioned for the person ahead of the group to search out the sound._

_They all followed after him from several directions, and Yuffie only hoped that it wasn't one of the kids from Edge, trying to find a hiding place from his friends, or maybe some stray dog. She'd give the kids a piece of her mind if she found them lurking around the ruins again…_

"_Grenade!" came the loud, sharp cry through the reactor and their ear pieces. "Run! Move! Move!"_

"_Fall back!" Yuffie screamed. "Everyone out of the reactor now!" But it was too late._

_The inside of the reactor ignited around them, the pressure and heat so suffocating that she didn't even have time to lift her arms to protect herself. She felt the person next to her turn and attempt to shield her from the blast—she hadn't even known _who!—_but they were both knocked back and through a still-standing wall with enough force to make her black out for a few seconds, precious oxygen being sucked out of her lungs._

_The boom of the explosion left her with nothing but a loud ringing in her ears, disoriented and numb as she tried to rise once she regained consciousness._

_There was a heavy weight still on top of her, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was because her world was spinning, and dust and fire were surrounding her. She coughed out and felt a bitter, coppery taste invade her mouth, choking her, making her want to throw up._

_She cried out when she attempted to use her left arm because it hurt in a way she hadn't felt before. Her whole body was crying out in pain, and she still couldn't hear a thing, but she finally found a way to get out from what was weighing her down._

_Then she realized that it was one of her soldiers… her face crumpled. It was Harris. Harris who had a wife, and a kid just a few years younger than her. Harris who'd never given her any grief about being half his age and still being his commander. Harris who had always been respectful, and a good father and husband. No, no, no!_

_She checked his pulse with her good arm and found none, her chest heaving with emotion. She couldn't break down. Not just yet. Looking up, Yuffie tried to locate any of the rest of the team but there was nothing but dark smoke and fire tainting the air._

_Leaning on bleeding knees, she stood shakily and located two more bodies nearby, unmoving. A scream broke through the ringing in her ears and she turned, eyes wide in horror as another soldier burned from head to toe._

_A sob tore through her chest at her inability to do anything for him. _

_What was she supposed to do? She couldn't think; couldn't breathe; couldn't even bring herself to take a step forward, or to attempt to call HQ for immediate help._

_And still the nameless soldier was burning. _

"_I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she found herself muttering, unable to hear her own voice over the roaring. Maybe it was the fire, maybe it was in her head. She could've been screaming it but she was too dizzy to know for sure._

_When she looked back up at her burning comrade, he had taken on a familiar face, his golden gauntlet reaching for her, as if asking her to help. To do _anything _but stand there like an idiot._

_She shook her head, chest heaving. "No! Vincent!"_

_This couldn't be happening. Vincent hadn't been there at the reactor! Why was he burning? She was beginning to feel on the verge of hysterical, breaths coming quick but not deep enough. She was suffocating and Vincent was burning—but then the reactor exploded again and there was nothing but red flames and green Mako surrounding her, pulling her down._

_P-please, no! Vincent! Vincent!_

Vincent!

"Vincent!"

"Yuffie—

"I'm here. Yuffie!" he was shaking her awake, hard enough to make her teeth rattle and her tender body ache in pain, but she continued to scream his name and thrash in his grip. "Yuffie!" he roared in a voice uncharacteristic of him; short of hitting her, it had been the only acceptable option.

She opened watery eyes, gasping for breath, and nearly felt her heart jump out of her chest at the sight of him. He was safe and unharmed. The fire hadn't burnt away his skin, and those striking crimson eyes were bright in his pale face, and filled with worry… over her behavior probably.

Yuffie realized that she was still crying rather loudly and attempted to stop, because honestly, it was getting hard to breathe and her ribs were hurting a great deal. But she couldn't stop, and she was beginning to hyperventilate.

Vincent sat her up and pushed her head between her knees so that she could calm down, but she was panicking still and her blunt nails were digging into her knees hard enough to break skin.

"Yuffie, you need to calm down. I'm here and you're safe. Just breathe."

His deep voice broke through the haze of terror clouding her mind from the memory-dream, and she was finally able to draw a true breath of air into her lungs. The echo of flames and smoke still filled her and she nearly toppled over face first onto the floor.

Vincent pulled her up gently as a wave of dizziness hit her after her panic attack and laid her back against the bed. "Yuffie?"

The room was spinning. "I don't—I don't know what happened," she admitted in a small voice.

Vincent glanced at the glowing orb peeking out from under her pillow and he pulled it up, showing it to her. "Did you use this?"

Yuffie stared at it with eyes full of standing tears, chest still rising and falling too quickly, and nodded. "I—I just healed a small cut on my finger, to try and see if I had any reaction like the doctor said. Maybe then I'd be able to heal quickly and get back to work."

"There is a reason why the doctor advised against using it," said Vincent in a low voice.

Yuffie swallowed hard, somehow realizing that she had angered him. "I know. But I still had to try," she murmured, choking on more tears.

"Mako poisoning can cause hallucinations and fever," he said, pulling off one of his gloves and feeling her forehead. His fear was confirmed when he came into contact with burning skin, a thin sheen of sweat already forming.

Yuffie shook her head. "It wasn't a hallucination. I dreamt… I dreamt of the moment right before the reactor exploded. And before now it had been a great big blank."

"Don't think about that now," he tried to soothe.

"How can I not think about it? I—I saw that H-Harris sacrificed himself to save me. He shielded me from the blast and because of that he's dead!"

Vincent gripped her shaking hands, ignoring the clamminess of her skin on his. "Yuffie, he did what he thought was best, and in that moment, he thought it best to save you. There's nothing you could've done differently," he said in a firm, calm tone.

Her gaze was somewhat clouded with tears as she shook her head. "I should've died with them," she whispered.

"Is that really what you think should've happened?"

The intensity of his gaze was unnerving, and she couldn't hold it for long. She looked away, suddenly feeling so tired and heavy, her body too warm.

"Your fever is getting worse," Vincent said, standing and walking out of the room.

She lay there blinking, staring at the window, the sun high in the sky, and a few seconds later Tifa quickly entered the room with a bowl of water and a clean cloth. "What did you do, Yuffie?" she asked, upset.

"You should've just told me the truth from the start," Yuffie replied, allowing Tifa to place the cool cloth over her forehead. "I'm not a kid anymore, but none of you seem to grasp that."

"With this kind of behavior, do you think you're proving that you're mature to handle rough situations? The doctor told you not to use materia." And she'd thought she'd removed it all, Tifa thought inwardly. She should've known Yuffie would find a way to get her hands on materia.

"What did you expect when everyone is keeping important information from me, Tifa?" Yuffie asked angrily, though it came out weaker than she had intended.

Tifa sighed quietly and nodded. "You're the youngest out of all of us. We just wanted to protect you."

"I've seen death, Teef, and plenty of it. It was something that my father was never able to protect me from. What made you all think that you could?" Yuffie asked, quiet, disappointed.

Tifa looked away from her and nodded. "You're right, and I'm sorry."

Yuffie nodded once. "It's okay. At least we understand each other now."

"I know we've all been touched by tragedy and death," said Tifa as she removed the cloth and dipped it in cool water again. "But I guess it's just my mothering side that didn't let me see clearly."

The ninja gave her a crooked smile, eyes half-lidded from the fever. "You'll make a great mom some day. Cloud is a lucky son-of-a-bitch."

"Yuffie!" Tifa chided with a giggle. "But you're right; he is."

"Where's Vincent?" Yuffie asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know. He walked down the stairs to tell me about your fever and then left the bar," said Tifa with a frown.

Yuffie sighed heavily. "I guess that it's my fault. I said something to him that I shouldn't have."

"Finally confessed, huh?"

"_No."_

Tifa smiled. "Then what?"

"Nothing. Just… tell him to come see me, yeah?"

"All right. Get some rest now. I'll be here until your fever goes down," Tifa said, beginning to hum a sweet lullaby.

Strangely, instead of feeling annoyed about another of Tifa's babying moments, Yuffie felt calm surround her just before sleep came along once again.

…

Her fevered sleep brought more nightmares and memories with it, and slowly the people in her dream changed and became her friends and loved ones. They all died before her eyes and she couldn't do anything to save them…

She was almost certain that she had woken up once or twice from her unsettling dreams to see Vincent sitting at her side, but she couldn't be sure. Sometimes the ceiling looked like the one from the hospital, and other times like the Seventh Heaven, but she couldn't recall what had been real and what had been a hallucination.

When she finally did wake up, she felt an unpleasant ache all throughout her body, which usually meant that the fever had just broken. Sighing quietly to herself, Yuffie wrinkled her nose at her own smell, wondering how long she'd gone without a shower after the fever had started. This was her own damned fault for not listening. She shuddered to think of what would've been the consequences had she decided to use the materia for one of her bigger wounds…

Glancing around her room, she noted that she was alone and wondered if everyone had gotten tired of watching over her every minute of the day. She wouldn't blame them, but she also had to admit that it stung.

Sitting up with some difficulty, she swung her legs over the side of her bed and sighed as they shook lightly underneath her when she stood. Her trek to the bathroom was a slow one, and she was kind of surprised that Tifa hadn't popped out of some room and scared the living daylights out of her before starting on a lecture.

She allowed herself a little grin when she made it and closed the door, locking it to make sure that no one walked in on her attempting to take a bath. Finding the strength to turn the water on seemed like another challenge, and when she finally did it, it took her a few minutes to get a good balance of hot and cold.

Next came the wounds, the burn, and the stitches… those would prove to be a problem. Plus the cast…

After much maneuvering and shifting in a small amount of water in the tub, she proceeded to clean herself up with a hand towel and some soap. She could do it on her own—without Tifa there to help her—and besides, she wanted to keep what little dignity she had left. Her wounds pulled and burned for a while, but she could deal with it in exchange for clean hair and skin.

When she finally finished, her muscles were aching and she felt a little weak, so she sat in the tub dozing in the cooling water, the arm with the cast hanging over the side to keep it safe from the moisture. Unaware of how much time had passed since she had left her room, Yuffie suddenly jumped at the sound of a sharp knock on the door.

"Yuffie."

"Vincent?" she squeaked.

"What are you doing in there?" he asked, tone dark.

"I—I'm taking a bath!"

He was quiet for a moment, maybe trying to decide if she was telling the truth and not finding a new way to hurt herself. "You've been in there for over an hour."

Her eyes widened as she slowly stood and toweled off with a towel she had pulled from the rack Tifa kept in the bathroom. Wrapping herself around it, she cursed when she realized that her wounds would need to be tended to by someone other than herself…

"Yuffie…" Vincent started, sounding impatient.

"Stop being such a perv, Vince! I told you that I'm fine. I don't have any materia on me. Or sharp objects. Or liquor. Or poison," she muttered, annoyed.

"Fine."

"Will you please call Tifa for me?" she asked.

There was silence for another long moment. "Tifa stepped out with the children."

Yuffie nearly cursed in frustration.

"…Is there something you require?"

She didn't know whether to tell him or not. It wasn't like Vincent would _ever _volunteer to tend to her wounds while she was half-naked, right? _Right?_

"Yuffie."

"I need to change the bandaging over the burn and the stitches," she said in a small voice. Unfortunately for her, the burn took up a large portion of skin between her shoulder blades, and the stitches ran from the right side of her ribs to just under her breast, and another one over her opposite shoulder. The other scrapes and bruises mattered little when compared to those.

The set of stitches near her chest she would handle herself, but the others…

"I can help if you'd like," he said, sounding nonchalant.

Yuffie blushed and stared at herself in the mirror. "Um… maybe I should put some pants on and then you can help me? Go downstairs for a few minutes."

"I will gather some food Tifa left for you and return shortly," he said, footsteps trailing off as he walked away.

Yuffie blew out a breath and slowly opened the door, making sure that he was gone. Her walk back was just as shaky as when she'd woken, but she made it before Vincent could show up again. As she pulled on her underwear and a pair of pants, she wondered what to do with her top. It wasn't like she could put it on and just lift it while Vincent cleaned her wounds… and she couldn't wait for Tifa because who knew how long she would be gone.

W-what if her towel slipped? What if she flashed Vincent and he accused her of attempting to seduce him and then ran off back to his coffin? Yuffie cursed up a storm loudly and simply grabbed a towel to cover her chest with. A glance at the mirror showed her that she was blushing again…

Vincent knocked and entered just as she was in the middle of cursing again. He raised a brow in curiosity but refrained from asking; sometimes it was better if he didn't know what was going on. He set the tray of food on the nightstand and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, waiting for her to say something.

"Here," she muttered, not meeting his eyes as she handed him gauze and the balm the doctor had prescribed her for the burns. She then turned her back to him and slipped the towel over her front, stiffly covering herself as she sat on the edge of the bed and waited for him to get to it.

Vincent sighed inaudibly and pulled off his gloves before leaving the room to wash his hands. He returned shortly and took up the disinfectant he would need to clean the wounds. He tried not to wince as he removed the soiled gauze and saw the angry burn on Yuffie's back. It would scar… he knew from personal experience.

Yuffie bit back a curse of pain as Vincent began to clean the burn quickly and efficiently, taking care to not hurt her more than he had to. The pain didn't allow for the feelings of embarrassment she had felt when he had first entered her room, and for that she was thankful. The last thing she needed to think of was Vincent staring at her naked back.

She sucked in a breath when he placed the balm onto her raw skin and felt her ribs protest. But then Vincent placed the protective bandages on her burn and stepped back, gathering the bloody pieces he had removed. "Do you need help with the rest?" he asked, quiet.

"Just the stitches on my shoulder," said Yuffie, feeling a little queasy from the pain.

Vincent sighed to himself and wondered at the various small scars she had scattered across her back. None of them were an indication of abuse, but he did wonder how she had received them. "What are these from?" he asked, finger dragging down two thin, fading lines that crossed.

"Double ninja stars," Yuffie said with a faint smile, cheeks warming at Vincent's touch. Had he been aware that he had just touched her in an intimate way? Still, it made her happy that he cared enough to ask. "My father had started to train me himself and he didn't think much of it when he let them loose."

"How… old were you?" Vincent asked, faintly scandalized.

"Four."

Vincent sighed quietly and shook his head. Somehow he felt happy that his mother had never enforced a lot of their Wutain culture, but he supposed that only the royal family would've enforced _shinobi_ training so early in a child's life. While she should've been playing with dolls, Yuffie had been training in how to wield _kunai._

"You all right, Vince? You went all broody on me," she said, fidgeting in embarrassment that he was staring at her back still.

"Apologies," he said, finishing up with the stitches on her shoulder before gathering everything up and making for the door without any other incident.

Yuffie sighed to herself and pulled on the oversized pajama shirt that Tifa had given her. Paired with her sweats, she looked like a little girl with no curves, she mused randomly. Moving slowly again, so as not to upset her ribs or her new bandaging, she pulled the linen from her bed, sighing when it remained stubbornly on the mattress.

She couldn't very well lay down on the dirty sheets, since she knew she'd been sweating out the fever, and she wasn't about to wait around for Tifa to do the work for her…

"What are you doing?" asked Vincent, catching her while she was still pulling half-heartedly at the sheet.

"Nothing," Yuffie muttered with a sigh, glancing up to see him holding a glass of water and a pill.

"Please, I don't want to go back to sleep," she moaned, shoulders sagging.

Vincent nearly rolled his eyes at her actions. "It's a painkiller. It'll help with the ache you're feeling after the fever broke."

She eyed it suspiciously before taking the pill and water from his hands and gulping both down. She would trust him to be honest. "Thanks."

He nodded once and moved to take over the task of changing her bed.

Yuffie stared, wide-eyed and shocked that he was doing such a thing for her. But really, she shouldn't have been so surprised. This man had been by her side since she had been taken to the hospital, and even though she only had flashes of memories from that traumatic experience, she could remember seeing his face. "Vincent?"

He made a small noise to indicate that he was listening.

"I—never mind," she muttered, sitting down near the window, eyes on the setting sun. She didn't even know what day they were currently on.

"What did you wish to know?" he asked her, pulling new sheets onto her bed.

"How… how did it feel to die?" she asked quietly.

Vincent froze at her question and had to refrain from shutting himself down and leaving her there alone. Yuffie was in an emotional state, and he knew that she wasn't asking out of morbid curiosity the way it would've been before her own near-death experience.

"It was painful," he said after a moment. "I… was filled with regrets over things that I didn't do. Acceptance that it was the end. Sadness over the fact that I had done so little with my life," he admitted for the first time out loud. "Why did you want to know?" he asked in a carefully blank tone.

Yuffie bit her lip and stared down at her hands, at the cast on her wrist. "Because I didn't get time to think about anything. It all happened so fast. My life didn't flash before my eyes, and I didn't even have time to think about any of you," she said, mournful. "It was all… dark."

Vincent stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her. "Darkness and blankness are better than being bombarded with a thousand thoughts and feelings at once, Yuffie."

"Maybe at the time. But now… now all I can think of are their faces, and what I could've done differently. Questions over why it happened and why I'm still alive," she whispered, voice cracking.

The gunman stepped silently closer and kneeled in front of her, reaching out without thought and touching her damp cheek. "Harris was a soldier, trained to protect. He made the decision to give up his life so that you could get a chance at living yours. Do not spit in the face of his gift by thinking that you'd be better off dead."

Yuffie stared at him, so close and with his touch so warm on her face. Was he even aware of what he was doing? She smiled gratefully and slipped a hand over his against her cheek. "Thank you," she murmured, sniffing quietly.

Vincent nodded once, feeling an odd sensation in his chest as Yuffie's warm, brown eyes closed and she leaned into his touch with a sigh. He waited, wondering why he wasn't pulling back his hand when her eyes opened again and she smiled. It was still an echo of her usual, cheerful self, but he held hope that she would eventually return to the Yuffie they had all come to care for.

Her eyes were bright in her youthful face, but still he couldn't help noticing the subtle changes in her features. She had grown up while he had been away, and he had no doubt that she would've had a long line of suitors had she allowed herself to stay in one place for long. Somehow though, the thought of Yuffie held back by some man didn't sit well with him and he decided that it wouldn't be wise to delve into the _why_ of that particular thought.

Gently he pulled back his hand, only to find that she wasn't letting go of his pale fingers. Her touch was warm but not overwhelming, the way it had been in the throes of her fever, but still it somehow burned through him.

He wasn't sure if he liked the feeling that Yuffie was invoking in him. It made him feel old and wrong, as if he were taking advantage of her somehow.

He knew his next words would push her back into a state of sadness, but he had to tell her. "The WRO will be holding a memorial for the fallen tomorrow. Will you be assisting?" he asked, quiet.

She almost, almost said no, but she couldn't do that. She couldn't turn her back on her friend's sacrifice. Yuffie knew that she would have to give Harris' wife an explanation face to face. An apology, too. "Will you be there with me?" she asked, giving him the full force of those beguiling eyes.

Vincent almost let out a mournful sigh and wondered if there would ever be anything he would be able to deny her from now on. "I will remain by your side through it all," he promised.

Her smile warmed him in a way he hadn't felt for thirty years, and this thought scared him more than anything else ever had. He knew he needed to be careful; he was not willing to lose himself as blindly as he had the first time.

...

...

...

...

The angst isn't over for Yuffie, but I thought I'd give you a taste of the romance that's to come. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend and that those of you celebrating enjoy your time with mom!

P.S. Please excuse any typos and grammar issues. I thumbed the end of this chapter on my phone. We're on our way out of the city so I'll do corrections when I get home.


	4. Chapter 4

I just realized that chapter three is the only one with a title. I will remedy that soon…

…

**Stuck in Limbo**

…

Her green cast seemed completely out of place when paired with her black ensemble, but there wasn't much she could do about it—all Vincent's fault for being so thoughtful and remembering her favorite color. Godo would be proud that she had relented to wearing a dress for such an occasion. While it wasn't her usual style, it was still on the short side, and of course it had been paired with her signature knee-high boots. Her hair was lacking the headband, too, and her usual pouches were resting on the dresser where Tifa had placed them after she had unpacked Yuffie post-hospital discharge.

She was ready.

And she was going to throw up if she didn't get her emotions back under control.

A knock at her door made her turn and she managed a wan smile at the sight of Vincent in _normal_ clothes. "Everyone is ready."

Yuffie nodded and blew out a breath, glancing at herself in the mirror one last time. The cuts and bruises were still obvious, though the pain in her ribs was a little more bearable. Still, she had confidence that she would be able to sit through the ceremony honoring the fallen soldiers _without_ making a fool out of herself and barfing all over Vincent's shiny shoes.

"Cid is here," said Vincent, interrupting the silence once more.

Yuffie looked at him and shrugged. "Good for him."

"Yuffie…"

She sighed and walked slowly to the door, grimacing at the ache in her joints. "Later, Vince. Later."

Vincent followed her and walked the stairs slowly, ready to catch her if she faltered. Yuffie smiled gratefully, knowing he wouldn't let her fall and resolved to make it on her own. "Has my dad called?" she asked, casual.

"Every day."

Yuffie nodded, amused that her old man had been worried enough to call so often. Hearing her father's voice—while it had annoyed her during her teenage years—was something she craved at the moment. Maybe after the ceremony she'd call him, _before_ Tifa forced her to take a happy pill…

Her heart beat a quick pace by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs and she knew that it had to do with her ribs and how they were starting to protest. Vincent took her by the crook of her arm and led her to the front of the bar where everyone had already gathered. Even Barret and Cid had dressed in a more respectable way, she noted.

The moment Cid's eyes met hers the tension seemed to rise, and only Vincent noticed. "Brat," Cid started, glaring mildly at her.

"What?" she asked, taking Vincent's arm as he began to walk toward the door.

"I'm glad to see you up and about," he muttered, making sure that she was the only one to hear.

She let out a small sigh and nodded. "Thanks, old man." And just like that it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She didn't know what it was but having Cid be mad at her had felt as if she'd been mad at her own father. Still, she knew that she couldn't even mention it for fear that Cid would curse her out about it… He'd always let the 'old man' comments slide by, but actually _telling_ him that she considered him a father figure…

She smiled to herself and tightened her hand around Vincent's arm.

And when he looked over at her, he was caught by the soft smile on her face.

…

Her heart was still hammering in her chest when they made it to the WRO headquarters. She could see from _The Shera's _cockpit that many had come to honor the fallen and she just hoped that Reeve didn't ask her to make a speech because, _hello_, she hadn't prepared one. She didn't think her voice would even work when addressing the families of her fallen comrades.

"We're all here with you," Tifa said quietly from her side.

Yuffie nodded gratefully and was thankful that her stomach was only minimally acting up. When the airship touched down, she stood and walked with Tifa to the exit ramp. Once outside, they were greeted by a few of the newer recruits, who would be escorting them to Reeve.

She couldn't help but feel like a bug under a microscope as she passed various soldiers, some faces new, but most old. It was unnerving to see them all; to wonder if they were judging her for not making the right decisions in time to save their comrades. For not being the right _leader_.

"Breathe, Yuffie," said Vincent's quiet voice.

She looked up at him and drew in a deep breath.

When they reached Reeve, Yuffie was surprised to see him wearing a dark coat in honor of the occasion. He moved close to her and gave her a brief squeeze. "I'm glad to see you up and about," he said quietly.

Yuffie smiled slightly. "I couldn't miss this, Reeve. They deserve this much," she said in a small voice.

Reeve squeezed her shoulder in reassurance. "I'm not going to expect you to give a speech, but if you'd like to…"

"I—I haven't prepared anything," Yuffie said, going into slight panic.

Her boss nodded and smiled. "I understand. It's just important that you're here."

Yuffie wasn't entirely convinced that he was right, but she just nodded and waved as he was called away to handle another matter. When she looked up, she came face to face with Harris' wife and son. She nearly turned and ran, had it not been for Vincent standing at her back; protecting her or blocking her in, she didn't know. Besides, she'd never been a coward.

"Miss Kisaragi—"

"I'm sorry," Yuffie blurted before she could stop herself. "I didn't—I _couldn't_ save him and I'm so sorry."

Mrs. Harris looked like she hadn't slept in days but she offered a small smile. "My husband… he spoke very highly of you. He said that one day you would make an excellent leader for your country."

Yuffie nearly choked on a sob, but she managed to hold it back, her eyes filling with tears. "It was an honor to have worked with him, ma'am."

"I'm sure he thought the same of you," replied the older woman, nodding. "And you have nothing to feel sorry for. We all knew the risks in this job and still he wanted to help make a difference in the wake of Shin-Ra."

"He was… a great role model. I'm glad I was able to meet him, and you. I'm going to miss him… a lot."

Mrs. Harris sighed quietly before cupping Yuffie's cheek in a warm hand. "You're still young. Honor my husband's memory by living your life to the fullest," she said before nodding toward Vincent politelyand then walking away with her son.

Yuffie watched her go and felt her heart break in her chest all over again because of the guilt.

"We should get going," said Vincent from behind her, making her jump in surprise.

She had forgotten that he was there, but she was grateful that he hadn't left her side. She felt sadness settle over her shoulders like a heavy weight as Vincent led her out toward their seats.

He sat with her in silence, taking in the drooped shoulders and the glassy eyes. What he wouldn't have given to have her teasing him about—about anything, really.

"My dad would've wanted me to say something," Yuffie said quietly, listening as people filled the seats, most of them fellow WRO soldiers.

Vincent looked up at the stage where Reeve would soon address the fallen and their families. "How do you feel about that?"

The ninja sighed and sat back, her good hand tightening into a fist. "I don't know."

Vincent had no reply, but he had a feeling that she did know. Yuffie had always been a sharp girl, even when she pretended to be nothing but a thieving klutz. Clumsy she may have been at times, but she was a ninja. That meant that her training had probably started at a very early age… He'd never asked her what she had done during the time that she had left Wutai and had then met up with AVALANCHE, and a part of him honestly didn't want to know. The world they lived in had been a dangerous place for a long time and she had been a sixteen year old thrown out into a dark world.

When Reeve began to name the soldiers that had died during the mission, her fingers squeezed his tightly, and he could do nothing more than hold onto her hand in reassurance.

He remembered what it had been like to be a Turk. They had mourned their fallen in a rather unconventional way… by drinking themselves stupid at a bar. ShinRa had started out corrupt from the very beginning, and this had meant that mourning a Turk would not happen publicly. After all, Turks had always been nothing but silent shadows, expendable. Many of his friends had never received any public recognition and their families to clear apology to speak of.

"Let us hold a moment of silence to honor our fallen soldiers."

Yuffie closed her eyes and pictured each one of them in her mind, goofing off, making her laugh, competing with each other during drills, imparting wisdom… or really lame moves to put on a woman at a bar. She had to let go of Vincent's hand to pinch herself to keep from bursting into tears. She would break down once she was back in her room in Tifa's bar, not now._ Not now_.

She watched the rest of the ceremony with dry eyes, guilt gnawing at her insides as she watched the families accept medals and recognitions for their deceased family member. She had to look away when Harris' wife stepped up.

"Are you all right?" asked Vincent quietly.

Yuffie blinked and looked at him, realizing that she had been clenching her hands tightly into fists in grief, to the point where her skin had been turning a pasty white. She watched in detachment as her palms became rosy once the blood began to return. "I'm fine. My ribs are starting to bother me," she lied without looking at him.

He knew she was lying, but he was not willing to call her out on it. Not in her condition, even though he knew that it wouldn't be healthy for her to bottle up her grief. Sighing quietly to himself, he focused his gaze on Reeve as the Commissioner began to wind down his speech.

…

Sitting in the living room of Cloud and Tifa's home, flipping slowly through the few channels on the television, she wondered what her father would think of the fact that she had said nothing at the memorial. It hadn't been like she hadn't wanted to, but… she'd just been too chicken-shit to get up and say something, even when Reeve had glanced at her when he had ended his speech.

Shame couldn't even begin to describe how she had felt then. Sighing to herself, Yuffie shifted and let out a forlorn sigh as she took a sip of the alcohol she'd stolen from Tifa's bar. She knew that with her meds she had to be extra careful, and that was the only thing that had stopped her from taking the entire bottle. Besides, three little gulps weren't going to kill her.

The volume of the TV was on low since midnight had come and gone an hour before. When they had returned from the memorial, she had excused herself and locked herself up in her room with the excuse of her ribs hurting. Tifa had wanted them to have dinner together but Yuffie had declined and had gone to her room then, trying not to feel the weight of Vincent's eyes on her retreating back. Any other occasion she would've teased him about checking out her fabulous ass, but it hadn't been the right time then.

The ache over her ribs was still present, but she could walk on her own now. She'd swallowed a pill and had slept the evening away. When she'd woken, in the wake of a nightmare, everyone had gone to bed and she had decided to raid the fridge for a snack where she found a plate filled with food that Tifa had left for her. After eating, she had grabbed the liquor and had plopped down on the couch with the blanket Tifa usually kept on hand.

Yuffie wondered if Vincent was sleeping and whether he felt annoyed with her behavior from early in the afternoon. She couldn't believe that he was still around town, and had taken up caring for her since she'd been in the hospital. She had expected him to leave as soon as she'd been walking on her own, but he was still around.

Despite her gloomy mood it made her heart warm to know that he cared enough to stick around. She knew she needed to keep from getting her hopes up though. It wasn't like his actions meant that he'd ever be interested in her as more than a comrade. And there went her mood again… and the second shot of alcohol.

She paused at a channel where various serious looking men were in deep discussion of the current events in the city. What had caught her attention was that one had mentioned the WRO and the recent deaths surrounding Midgar.

They tore into Reeve's leadership, _his speech _at the memorial, their mission in Midgar, and the WROs true purpose in the city. And right along with it, her name came up.

"_The truth of the matter is that they picked someone not qualified to lead a mission—much less an entire group of soldiers. There were plenty of much more qualified men and women to be the heads."_

"_Tuesti was playing favoritism because of his involvement with AVALANCHE and these were the consequences."_

"_We have failed to take into account the fact that she has a serious connection with Wutai. After all, she _is_ the successor of the current ruler. She has some knowledge as to how to lead people. I don't believe her father would've failed so much at training his would-be-heir."_

"_Reeve Tuesti's leadership of the WRO is just as much a failure as Yuffie Kisaragi's in this mission."_

Quietly, Yuffie shut off the TV and let out a long sigh that stuttered off a little toward the end. Damn it, she wouldn't cry over stupid words from stupid old men. Still, their words hurt her deeply and made her question whether she would know how to keep her country moving forward and not drive it into ruin.

The third shot of alcohol felt warm as it moved down her throat and she began to feel nice and drowsy. Though that could've just been her meds mixing with the alcohol, she mused in detachment. Why had her life been so completely turned upside down? Why couldn't she have just stayed as head of Intelligence and be done with it? Had she been on her own, no one would've died—except maybe her and her alone—and then none of this would've been happening. Reeve's leadership skills wouldn't have been questioned, and Wutai and her father would've been left out of the bad publicity, too.

Why was it that she could never do anything right?

Muffling her mouth with a hand and the blanket, Yuffie gave into her tears and curled into herself, wishing she'd had the ability to hide away from the world.

…

The next few days passed by in a blur of sleep, meds, and slow, dulling pain. She could breathe better, but sometimes, when she walked to the bathroom too quickly she'd get winded and would have to stop and grasp at the wall until it passed. She'd been tempted to use materia to help herself along, but the doctor still wouldn't recommend it and she didn't need another episode of fever to interfere with the natural healing.

Yuffie also wondered when Tifa would get tired of having her around, mooching off of her. Well, Reeve had been sending weekly checks for being temporarily incapacitated, and Yuffie had handed them off to Tifa, telling her to use the money to help with the bills, but the ninja didn't know if her friend had. Tifa had always been too darned generous for her own good and Yuffie wouldn't have been surprised to know that the martial artist had been keeping the checks in a safe place for when she'd feel like herself again.

But it wasn't happening. Not much held any appeal to her for the moment. She hadn't gone outside of the Seventh Heaven in a while and she was starting to look a little too pale. The window of her room was kept open during the day, but that had been all the sunlight Yuffie had seen in a while. She got up late in the day, walked down to eat lunch with Tifa, and sometimes Cloud and Vincent, and would then return to her room for the rest of the afternoon. Sometimes she would sit on the old, beat up recliner in her room, staring out the window, and other times she would just lay in bed, wrapped in her blankets depending on the weather which was usually as gloomy as her mood.

Vincent had stopped coming by as much… and it burned. It made her wonder if he had gotten fed up with her already. But… there wasn't much she could do about the way she felt. Reeve had offered the services of a shrink, but she had declined his offer a little too roughly. Maybe he was onto something though. She was tired of feeling like the world was passing her by and she was stuck in limbo.

A knock at her door brought her out of her thoughts and she let out a grunt of acknowledgement but remained where she was in bed. The door to her room opened and heavy footsteps announced her visitor. For a moment her heart pounded in her chest, wondering if it was Vincent, but then she heard Cloud's quiet sigh as he set down something on her nightstand.

"I know I'm not the best person to come here to give you advice, but don't you think this has gone on long enough?" he asked quietly.

Yuffie shrugged. "How long has it been?"

Cloud rolled his eyes, annoyed that she was acting like a child now. "A couple of days. A week. And a half. You're good enough to walk on your own two feet, yet you're still here."

"Are you throwing me out? What's your point?"

Cloud rolled his eyes, aware that she couldn't see him. "Of course I'm not throwing you out. Tifa wouldn't let me…"

When she didn't reply, he sighed and cleared his throat. "I'm kidding."

"I know," Yuffie replied, shrugging.

"Look… it isn't good to wallow in what has happened," he said, quiet. "I know this from personal experience. Guilt eats at you from the inside and destroys everything surrounding you. There are people here who care for your wellbeing, Yuffie, and this is hurting them as much as it hurts you."

"It's not a feeling I can control," Yuffie protested.

"With help you can. You should think about Reeve's offer to have you see a psychologist. Cases of survivor's guilt can destroy your entire life. It almost did mine," he said, honest. "Tifa tried to help me but I wouldn't let her. And you saw how much time I wasted."

Yuffie wondered how much it had taken Cloud to tell her all of that. But what was she meant to do once she got out of her funk? Go back to Wutai to rule? Not after her spectacular failure with the WRO. She didn't have a love interest—and crushing on Vincent didn't count, since he would never reciprocate—so it wasn't like there was a man she was losing. Her friends were another story.

"You can start out slowly. Go out. Walk around the city for a little while. Just don't stay here, locked in this room all day, okay?" Cloud asked.

She nodded with a sigh and turned to look at him. "Thanks for your words, Cloud."

He inclined his head once before walking out of her room and shutting the door quietly behind him.

Yuffie looked over at the nightstand and smiled to herself when she saw a sandwich and a glass of milk sitting there, waiting for her. She'd give Cloud's words some thought but she didn't know whether she'd find the strength to get up and out. Taking a sad bite of the sandwich—peanut butter and jelly, because Cloud sucked at cooking—she chewed slowly and felt tears blur her vision.

Maybe Cloud was right and she _did_ need some professional help. All that was left was for her to help herself.

…

He swept into her room through the window quietly, taking note that the sheets were a tangled mess around her legs and that her expression was twisted in a grimace. He hadn't been by to see her for a few days because of Reeve and his continued investigation of what had gone on during the incident of Yuffie's mission.

So far, a personal attack on Yuffie had been ruled out, and for this Vincent had been thankful. He had been present when the findings had been relayed to Godo and had nearly felt the relief Godo Kisaragi had exuded at the news. Vincent had then wondered whether Yuffie receiving threats on her life had become a common occurrence in Wutai…

Glancing at her face, Vincent was sad to see that she looked in the throes of a nightmare and his heart ached for not being able to do a thing about it. He wondered how many times she had relived that moment of the explosion, the demise of her comrades, and her own face-off with death.

As it was, he could do nothing but watch in what his conscience was telling him was an invasion of privacy… especially so late at night. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed her hands curl into fists and her lips part in a cry.

The look on her face was so filled with anguish that he couldn't stop his hand from reaching for her shoulder and shaking her awake. She jumped awake with a strangled shriek and it probably would've been worse had he not released her immediately.

She lay awake, blinking into the dark and breathing in ragged gulps of air; he didn't know whether he should make his presence known to her.

"Yuffie?" he asked after a moment, his concern winning out against his common sense.

She turned to look at him with eyes filled with pain before she looked away and blinked, tears leaving her eyes slowly. "W-what are you doing here?" she asked shakily.

Vincent approached her side slowly, allowing her the chance to move away or ask him to leave if she wished, but she didn't. "I… wished to check on you. I know that I haven't visited you in a few days, but it was because Reeve had me running investigation teams in Midgar."

Yuffie nodded in understanding, not trusting her voice just yet and wishing that her skin could stop itching from the nightmare she'd just woken from. The feel of Mako seemed to have been burned into her skin and it gave her the creepy feeling of ants crawling in her veins. Would the nightmares _ever_ end?

"I will leave you to get more sleep," he said quietly, standing when she didn't reply right away.

"No!" Yuffie exclaimed, louder than she had intended. "Please… I don't think I can be alone right now," she whispered.

Vincent nodded and remained where he was seated. "Are the nightmares frequent?" he asked in a low voice.

"Every time I close my eyes," Yuffie said, sounding incredibly exhausted.

He understood what she meant. He'd had nightmares every single day he spent in the coffin, and with less frequency once he had left it. "I hear that you haven't wanted to leave this room for nearly a week…"

She knew that he was asking, but she honestly didn't want to talk to him about it. "Don't worry about it, Vince. I'll get out of it soon. After all, I'm the great White Rose of Wutai," she said lightly.

Vincent didn't know whether to believe her or not. Never before had he seen Yuffie brought down so far from her energetic, cheerful self. "It's not healthy."

She stared at the dark sky outside her window and shrugged she shoulder she wasn't laying on. "It's not like I'm choosing to feel this way."

"I understand," he said in a quiet voice.

Yuffie nodded but didn't turn to look at him, even at the shuffle of clothing as he removed his cloak—or so she assumed without looking. For some reason his presence seemed to calm her inner turmoil and it also made the tension in her body leave with every exhalation of breath. A part of her couldn't believe that just his presence was enough to put her at ease, but there he was, making her pounding heartbeats slow, but only a little. She had a feeling that her accelerated heartbeats were caused by how he made her feel.

Having him so near, showing that he still cared about what happened to her and what she was doing with her life, made her want to cry. But damn it, she had been doing way too much crying the last few days! She hated how vain it made her sound, but the last thing she had ever wanted was for Vincent to see her with a red, shiny nose and puffed up eyes… There went the tears.

She tried to remain silent but her shuddering breath gave her away. "Sorry, Vince. I bet you're getting sick and tired of babysitting me, huh?" she asked, wiping her tears away with a sniffle.

"It's the least I can do for someone I care about."

_There goes my heart. I'm surprised he hasn't heard it yet, _she mused.

"Besides, you suffered a great physical and mental trauma," he replied, as if that was reason enough that she was allowed to act like a complete baby.

She felt selfish for putting her friends through all of her drama.

"Yuffie?" he questioned when he received no reply.

"I'm listening," she muttered, sighing heavily. "I'm just tired." Of feeling sad, guilty, overwhelmed, afraid…

"Then I should leave you to get some rest. We can speak more later this morning."

Her mouth ran away from her without her permission before he could even take a step…

"Vince… w-will you hold me?" she whispered, barely audible, cheeks burning. She almost would've preferred Godo, because she missed the old far even though he had never been the affectionate type, but she needed someone to hug her. Even Vincent—the man who shied away from touch—seemed like a good choice at the moment.

Vincent hesitated for a moment, watching her thin shoulders shake, her back still to him. It was a very _intimate_ thing what she was asking him to do. He hadn't touched anyone that way since his Turk years, since before Lucrecia… But here was Yuffie now, asking him for comfort. The question was if he'd be able to put aside his reservations and help her… to be the friend she needed.

She jumped slightly at the sound of muffled clanking and it took her a moment to realize that Vincent had removed those metal monstrosities he called boots… Frowning she lifted her head from her pillow and glanced at him just in time to catch him in nothing but his black pants and a black, soft looking long sleeved shirt.

Turning quickly away, Yuffie felt her heart stutter in her chest when the bed dipped and he quietly settled in, not touching her. She wondered if he didn't want to, or if he felt forced by her request, but then his voice quickly blew those thoughts away.

"You can… settle in any way you wish," he said, sounding hesitant.

Yuffie shifted her body around to look at him and smiled before she shifted close enough to lay her head against his shoulder. Still, she maintained a respectable distance and she curled her arms between her chest and the side of his body. He felt incredibly warm, and she wondered if it was him or if was a result of all of that leather he usually wore.

Despite her effort to stay awake and just bask in his closeness, in the sound of his heart, in the fact that _Vincent Valentine _was in her bed, keeping her company, her eyes felt too heavy. She didn't think she had ever felt so relaxed before so quickly without the aid of her happy pills. "Vince?" she murmured sleepily.

"Yes, Yuffie?"

"Thank you." _For sticking around so far_, she whispered inwardly.

Vincent's arm came around her back and squeezed her gently in reply as he watched her eyes close. He didn't know what it was about this girl that made him throw away all of his reservations. He had always tried to keep his distance, even from the people he considered friends, but somehow Yuffie had always made this a difficult feat. She was… everything he didn't want in his life but that he couldn't help but desire. She was everything Lucrecia had never been, and he didn't know whether to curse or appreciate it.

He supposed that it was the latter because even as the sun rose, he never let her go.

…

…

…

…

…

I don't think there's any way for me to properly apologize for this humongous lack of updates. The writer's block has been killer and it has taken me a long time to get out of it. I had this chapter nearly done for months now and hadn't found a proper way to end it until a few days ago. Please forgive any redundancy when it comes to scenes and dialogue. I'm going to be rereading this story in the next few days to make sure I'm not just repeating stuff.. I have an idea of where this is going, so that's the good part.

Also, I normally don't campaign for reviews, and most of you should know this if you're returning readers from my other fics, but please let me know if you're still reading and if you even _want _me to continue this story. Pretty please? Reviews also help feed the muse and it's been starved for a while, so you'd all be a lot of help. Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with me so far! Up next I do have a smutty SnowLightning fic that unfortunately will not be posted here, so if you're interested in the pairing, keep an eye on the writing community I have on livejournal.

Thanks for reading everyone and I hope you have a great week!


	5. Chapter 5

Apologies for the long wait!

…

**Denial**

…

Tifa didn't know whether to wake them up for breakfast or not. They both just looked adorable! Cloud hadn't thought so, but that hadn't stopped him from removing his phone and snapping a few pictures for later blackmail material.

"We should let them sleep. The last few days have been difficult for them both," said Tifa quietly, pushing Cloud out the door.

"They do seem pretty cozy now…"

"Shush, Cloud," Tifa hissed, shoving him out the rest of the way.

"Tifa."

The quiet voice made her freeze and turn back to look at the gunman sharing the bed with the ninja. "Vincent?"

"Tell Cloud that I expect him to destroy those pictures."

"Oh, okay. I'll tell him," Tifa said with a smile before skipping out.

Vincent paused for a moment to consider his position and realized why Tifa and Cloud had been so interested. He was… spooning Yuffie, one arm curled right under hers, his nose pressed to her sweet smelling hair. It was an intimate pose, one that left him quite aware as to the fact that Yuffie had indeed grown up in the last few years, and that also let him know that his body didn't mind the position at all…

Pulling back slightly, he sighed to himself and stared out of the window, even as Yuffie cuddled into his arm. The sun had risen brightly, which meant he had overslept by a few hours, but he had to admit that he hadn't slept that well in years. Even Yuffie's small whimpers when another nightmare had caught her hadn't been a problem. _That_ had been when he had spooned her, he remembered.

He should've been more scandalized… more… worried that he was doing something wrong. But truth was, he wasn't. It didn't feel wrong and things going right in his life had not been a common occurrence. Still, he had to remind himself that Yuffie wasn't herself at the moment and that the last thing on her mind would be any advances on his part.

Vincent stared at the back of her neck, at the t-shirt that had been pulled askew by her movements and the pale and exposed skin of her shoulder. He was treading on dangerous waters… Sighing to himself, he watched as his breath fanned away some of her fine hair at the base of her neck and her skin broke into goose bumps. What was he doing?

"You didn't have to stay the entire night," she muttered, voice thick with sleep. "I'm not exactly prone to sharing the blanket."

Vincent smirked to himself, having already found that out himself. "I know. You kick, too."

Yuffie felt her eyebrow twitch but didn't think she had the courage to turn and look at him yet, especially when she was still clutching his arm to her chest. And she probably had morning breath. And _bed-hair_. "Why did you stay?" she asked quietly.

"I—" He paused. "I felt like you needed me."

She did, but she didn't want to say it to his face… Vincent seemed to have some issues about intimacy. "So you felt obligated to stay?" she asked in a small voice.

Vincent frowned, wondering where this was coming from. Instead of answering, he ignored her question. "Will you be coming outside today?"

Yuffie narrowed her eyes at his change of subject. "Go away now, Vincent." She'd never liked the feeling of being pushed. Or ignored.

"Is that such a hard question to answer?" he needled without raising his voice or showing his irritation at having been kicked out.

Yuffie huffed and pulled the pile of blankets over her head, ignoring him completely. She knew that she was being unreasonable, and acting like the sixteen year old kid who'd wanted nothing more than to be taken seriously back then, but she couldn't help it. She didn't know why she couldn't push herself out of the funk she was in, and Vincent was only trying to help. "Go back to the WRO, Vincent. They need you more than I do," she muttered, wondering if he had already left.

_I somehow doubt that,_thought Vincent wryly. He needed to do something drastic to snap Yuffie out of the depression she was losing herself in, but he wasn't exactly sure of what. He'd never been big at talking or expressing feelings, but one thing he _had_ learned, had been to be a better friend.

…

"Any luck?"

Vincent glanced at Tifa and shook his head as he sat at the bar counter, having just vacated the shower.

Dressed in a pair of dark slacks and a black cotton shirt he looked even lankier than he usually did; it was just too bad that Yuffie wasn't around to appreciate it, thought Tifa. "She needs a reason to pull herself out of this funk," she commented idly.

"She should rise for her own sake. She cannot expect to waste away between those sheets," he murmured darkly.

"Maybe she needs help to see that."

"I already tried and she refused."

"Are you giving up, Vincent Valentine?" Tifa huffed, annoyed.

He sighed, long and moody. "What more can I do? Short of dragging her out by the scruff of her shirt…"

The brunette gave him a pointed look and smiled as one of his eyebrows rose.

"I think you know already what you can do for her."

He merely grunted in acknowledgement and accepted the glass of water she offered.

…

She really was trying her best to appear unaffected by Vincent's absence from Seventh Heaven once more, but Yuffie had to admit that it hurt more than she let on. She missed hearing the heavy clomping of his annoying boots, and the over dramatic swish of his cloak, but most of all… she missed _him_. Everything that made up Vincent Valentine.

And it hurt all the more to know that _she_ had been the one to drive him away. She couldn't be angry at the fact that he had done as she wished and had left her alone. Sighing to herself as she sat in Cloud's favorite chair, complete with worn leather and overly stuffed, she rubbed her thumb over the smoothness of the summon materia in her hand, just brooding as had become the norm for her.

"You're not supposed to have Materia," said Marlene's matter-of-fact voice.

Yuffie glanced at her and smiled half-heartedly. "Don't worry about me, Marley. It's not like I'll summon anything in the house. Can you imagine Tifa's reaction at having Leviathan in the living room?"

The girl giggled and pranced over to slip under the blanket Yuffie had been wrapped in, both comfortably cocooned and cuddling. "Why are you still sad?" Marlene asked, hugging Yuffie around the middle.

"I'm not sure, Marlene," Yuffie admitted with a sigh.

"I don't like seeing you sad. No one does," the girl muttered. "You always bring out the best in everyone!"

Yuffie grinned weakly. "Oh yeah? How do you figure that?"

Marlene giggled. "Well… Tifa needs someone to tell all her secrets to… and Uncle Cid sees you as a daughter even though he won't admit it. Uncle Reeve would be forever working in his office if you weren't there to tease him into seeing that he needs to have fun. Papa would probably forget that he's not as old as he feels, and even Uncle Vincent…"

"What about him?" Yuffie asked when the girl paused.

"Well… before you were hurt, we only saw him once every few months! Now he's here all the time, watching over you. And now he stays because he wants to know that you're safe."

Yuffie felt her heart stutter in her chest at Marlene's words. Could it be true? Could she trust the words of the precocious nine year old? Marlene had always been smart and far too observant for her age… but she supposed that she had to have been when living with people like Cloud and Barret.

Yuffie gave her a tight squeeze until she giggled and gasped for breath. "Aunt Yuffie, I can't breathe!"

"Well, I feel like smothering you in kisses," said the ninja, feeling her chest lighten briefly after her conversation with girl.

"You can't do that because then Papa Barret would be angry."

"True, and between you and me, that gun arm of his is crazy scary."

Marlene snickered and stood. "Tifa promised she would make cookies today, so I have to go and remind her. Will you be okay, aunt Yuffie?"

Yuffie nodded and offered the girl a smile. "I'll be fine, Marlene. Just do me a favor, yeah?" The girl nodded enthusiastically. "If you see that gunslinging hobo, will you tell him we need to talk?"

Marlene grinned and nodded. "Should I say that you called him a hobo?"

The ninja remained silent for a moment. "No, better not. I don't want him to leave again."

"Are you in love with Uncle Vincent, aunt Yuffie? Because sometimes you have this look on your face that I've seen on Tifa before when she looks at Cloud and she thinks no one else can see her…"

"Of course not," said Yuffie, hoping that her cheeks weren't blushing and giving her away. "I just miss him as a friend."

Marlene smiled secretively and nodded before she gave her another hug and then ran off.

Yuffie sighed quietly and snuggled into the blanket as she let her thoughts loose. She'd always harbored a crush on Vincent, but could her feelings have possibly changed in such a short space of time? Her heart had stuttered in her chest at the sight of him, though she had only acted as her usual self.

The last thing Vincent would ever need was the awkwardness that came with knowing that she was attracted to him. Knowing Valentine the way she did, she wondered if he would just keep his distance from her until her _infatuation_faded away.

She would definitely miss him, but no one else needed to really know that. Sighing to herself, Yuffie closed her eyes and willed her mind to stop running in circles. It was too exhausting.

…

The next few days passed by in a blur of the last of her meds, Tifa's encouraging conversations and Marlene and Denzel's company. Yuffie had visited the doctor for the removal of the stitches and to make sure that the burns were healing. The doc was still worried about her exposure to mako and had given her an earful after Tifa had told him about the materia episode.

According to the doc, they needed to run a few tests to make sure that the level of mako in her body had either lowered to an acceptable level or stayed as it was. If it turned out that the mako had begun to overpower her blood then that would mean mako poisoning and serious trouble. Some people were able to absorb much easier than others, and Yuffie wondered if those would've been perfect candidates for the SOLDIER program years back.

So far she hadn't felt all too sick, though the tell-tale signs of the mako in her blood was present in the slight glow of her eyes in the dark. She hadn't seen much change in herself, though she would admit to no one that seeing in the dark had become easier.

Making her way out of her room and down to the bar wearing a fresh outfit, she found Tifa filling out order forms for next month's alcohol inventory. The brunette looked up and smiled at her, surprised to see her dressed and ready to leave the house voluntarily.

"Where are you off to?" Tifa asked, hiding her surprise lest Yuffie decide to head back upstairs and back to bed.

"I'm going to HQ," said Yuffie, pulling her precious moogle cloak around herself.

"This is quite surprising," the brunette commented.

"I know… I'm just going crazy now that I'm not doped up on painkillers and antibiotics. I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic."

"Well… let me finish and I'll go with you, okay? I want to get some training done now that the kids are out for the day with Cloud," Tifa said, sorting a few sheets of paper and then pressing them into a neat pile.

Yuffie had been tempted to decline, but she did need a ride and rather than walk and take the train, she accepted, glancing toward the windows of the bar. The sun was hidden behind dark clouds, which meant a chillier day and possible rain.

As Tifa drove she chatted lightly about random things, hoping to keep Yuffie from staying silent and morose.

"Has Vincent contacted you at all?" Yuffie asked during a short silence as Tifa took the highway.

Her friend shook her head. "No. But I think Reeve must've sent him on some special op, otherwise he would've visited by now. He's been really worried about you since he got the call of the explosion."

Yuffie glanced over at her with a questioning look.

"Do you remember anything else from when you were taken to the hospital?" Tifa asked.

The ninja shook her head. "Just darkness, frantic voices, and snippets of conversation."

"Well, I have it from a good source that Vincent was there when you arrived and that he remained outside of the trauma room until he knew you were alive and stable."

Yuffie mulled over Tifa's words with her heart doing that funny little dance it had started to do at the mention of the gunman recently. Had he really done that? _Of course he had_… he had been there watching over her from the moment she had woken up and had been released from the hospital. And all she had done was be an annoyance for him…

Well, that needed to change.

"You're special to him," Tifa added quietly.

A nervous giggle escaped her lips. "How can you possibly know that? Vincent is… Vincent. He doesn't feel affection openly for anyone."

"He does for you. Stop being so stubborn and open your eyes. All of the proof is staring you in the face. Now… I know you're still healing, mentally and emotionally, but you can't let yourself ignore this. Vincent… is a different breed of man, and if he slips through your fingers, I don't think you'll ever have a chance again."

"A chance to what?" Yuffie asked, frowning at the road ahead of them. It's not like affection would translate to desire… or even love. Tifa was being delusional.

"A chance to see if he's the one meant to make you happy," Tifa said quietly.

Yuffie sighed and stared out of the window the rest of the way, mulling over her friend's words. There had been a time when she would've jumped for joy at hearing Tifa's advice. But her recent accident had taught her to be cautious the hard way. And while Yuffie herself was still young, she wasn't a teenager anymore. Those girly dreams she had once harbored in her heart had begun to fade away. Or so she decided to tell herself…

Thankfully, they arrived at the WRO headquarters before Tifa could keep pressing her, and after both receiving their clearance passes, split up to use two different training rooms. Tifa would do some light boxing and Yuffie… still hadn't decided what she would do. Though maybe she could give the simulator a try. She needed to know how rusty her skills had turned.

On her way to the simulators, she passed various soldiers who saluted and greeted her, though she noticed that they looked cautious when talking to her. It annoyed her, but she could understand why they were being that way. She had a suspicion that the fact that she hadn't left the bar in weeks had already reached them and they probably thought she was a nutcase.

Luckily for her, she didn't encounter Reeve and while it made her feel guilty, she knew that she wasn't ready to face the questions about her return to work. And maybe she was avoiding him so that he didn't insist on the shrink. Seeing a professional would happen when she decided, because she knew she would resist if Reeve pushed her to it.

Happy to see that the simulator was empty, Yuffie walked over to the computer and typed in the settings of the training exercise. While the technology had evolved from what it had been during ShinRa's reign, it still functioned along the same lines. She had to wear the special goggles that would gather information on the fight and her techniques, and the data would be stored in the computer in order to adapt her training to become more challenging.

Reeve had also been working hard on designing simulations that didn't cause damage to the user, but so far he had only made it possible to not be _killed_during an exercise… Yuffie shook her head and crammed her phone and her cloak into the space under the computer. Choosing the landscape of the barren outsides of Midgar on a medium setting of difficulty, she paused at seeing the question blinking on the screen.

_Use of materia?_

Yuffie bit her lip and then typed her answer… only as a last resort type of thing, she assured herself.

Removing Conformer from her back and preparing her weapon to accept the materia the simulator offered, she moved to stand in the middle of the room, eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness of the scenery. The wind blowing across her skin felt so real, as did the ground underneath her boots. The sun offered her body warmth and strangely she coughed as a cloud of dust blew under her nose.

The first creature jumped at her back, forcing her into a roll as she let loose a hidden kunai. It struck the shadow creeper in the neck and it disintegrated. Getting quickly to her feet, she slashed forward with Conformer as another materialized right in front of her, close to her right side.

The next three went down hard, and she realized that she was taking out all of her frustrations on the fake creatures. Weeks of helplessness and pain, of guilt, of feeling like a burden to her friends. To Tifa… and especially Vincent.

One slash. Two. Three.

The creatures started to come at her in threes and fours as the difficulty of the exercise adjusted to her display of skill. Her knees and knuckles had become scraped in the grapples, but she had worked up a healthy sweat as her training came back to her. One monster nicked her shoulder and stomach, but she saw the wounds as mere scratches. Nothing to worry about.

Gasping out in surprise at the sound of distant howling, she looked up and saw a large cloud of dust a distance away, signaling something big and dangerous approaching. What the hell? She didn't remember having chosen any large monsters when the computer had asked her monster choice…

Driving a ninja star into the eye of a new creeper, she managed to destroy the remaining ones right before she caught sight of the Dual Horn barreling right for her. What the hell?! Nowhere in the computer had it said that a Dual Horn would show up!

Even in the simulator, those kinds of monsters were hard to kill and were often taken care of by pairs or small groups of soldiers. And while she was confident in her skills now that she knew she wasn't too rusty, she would need the help of materia to bring the thing down.

Or at least using materia had been her plan until she saw the size of the monster… it could easily tower over her and splatter her all over the ground. Who the hell had invented simulators in which you could still take damage?!

She'd have to get on Reeve's ass for a new program… Yuffie wondered if any of the rookie cadets had been killed yet… The distance was beginning to decrease and it seemed to be the size of a Shadowfox… maybe even bigger.

"Shit," Yuffie gasped, turning and running for the rock formations behind her as the thing gained speed. What the hell was going on with the simulator's programming?

She leapt up and ran vertically just as she felt the monster's breath on the back of her neck, narrowly avoiding being scored by the horns. Her ribs protested the pull as she pushed away from the wall and flipped backward.

Yuffie landed right behind the Dual Horn and felt her eyes widen as she easily ran under the beast, head not even skimming its belly. Still, now was not the time to stand there gawking like an idiot. Handling Conformer with both hands, she used it to slice her opponent's belly, muscles pulling with the forced needed to cleave through the rough skin. And even then the monster roared and reared up on two legs, ready to trample her.

Rolling away with a curse, Yuffie blinked and felt her eyes widened as the landscape suddenly morphed right before her eyes. The Dual Horn was still there with her, but now… now she stood before the reactor she and her squad had been investigating right before the explosion…

Her breathing caught in her throat as she was thrown back to that day… to the pain, the guilt, the death of her comrades…

"No!" she wailed when she heard the reactor explode, the sound deafening.

But it wasn't real… it was just an illusion projected in the simulator.

And damn it, the monster was charging at her again and it was too late for her to do anything else but block.

Raising her arms to protect her middle, the glint of the materia caught her eye and she gasped out right before she activated it. For a few long seconds she remained blinded by the brightness of the spell—never had her thunder been so strong—and she could feel it draining her alarmingly quickly. The resulting crackle of thunder tore through the simulated monster, destroying it and the computer along with it.

_Fuck damn it… at least I didn't get gored by a fake monster…_ was her last thought before she fell back, unconscious. That and, _Vincent and Reeve are going to be so pissed._

…

"_Her vitals are fine. She has no broken bones and just a few scratches as a result of the training. No concussion or internal bleeding. All in all she appears to be in good condition."_

"_And the reason why she remains unconscious?"_

Uh-oh, that sounded like Vincent.

"_She was warned against using materia for this specific reason. It will not truly harm her anymore, but since she was submerged in mako and her body has begun to adapt to it, use of materia can be… volatile. Attacks that in the past may have been average have been augmented."_

"_Would it be a good idea to continue prohibiting the use of materia?"_asked Reeve's voice.

"_I believe that with today's demonstration, she can begin practicing with its use if necessary. Materia has been nearly banded around the world after we learned of what it does to the lifestream, but in the case of those of you who fight to protect us, it seems necessary. She needs to learn to control how much she pulls from within herself in order to not be drained so quickly."_

"_Thank you, Doctor,"_said Reeve, effectively dismissing the other man in the room.

There was shuffling and the sound of the door closing before Yuffie sighed and rolled onto her back from where she had been on her side.

"What the hell happened?" she muttered, prodding at her aching temple.

Reeve stepped over to her and handed her a small paper cup holding two pills and a cup of water.

Yuffie sat up slowly and avoided meeting anyone's eyes as she took the painkillers and stared at her feet.

"You don't remember?" Vincent rumbled, clearly sounding severe.

"Yeah, I remember how I got here. What happened after I passed out?" Yuffie asked, looking up and at Reeve.

The commissioner frowned and looked worried. "You fried all the computers and the simulator itself," he said casually.

Yuffie's eyes widened at his words and she looked toward Vincent, who was standing by the window, gazing out of it.

"You're kidding, right?" she muttered. Though now that he mentioned it, her thunder spell had been brighter than she had ever remembered seeing… "Shit, Reeve, I'm sorry."

"Yuffie, I thought it had been made clear that you were not to use materia."

"I know, Reeve, but—"

"There is no excuse for that kind of irresponsibility," said Vincent from the window.

Yuffie winced, seeing right through his passive tone. "There was something wrong with the computer. I was training with shadow creepers specifically, because I didn't know just how bad my fighting skills had become. But right in the middle of fighting, I noticed that there was something bigger coming at me. The crazy thing is that… it was a Dual Horn."

"Maybe you set off an option when imputing the information into the simulator," said Reeve, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"I deliberately set the difficulty setting to medium. As far as I know, nothing but the shadow creepers should've shown up. Right?" Yuffie asked, beginning to feel upset that he was doubting her word.

Reeve nodded. "Maybe it was a glitch. I could've checked the logs had you not fried it beyond use. But I might be able to salvage something anyway."

"That's not all," Yuffie muttered. And with the next part of the story, she couldn't help but wonder if they would take her as some kind of crazy person for real… "Something else happened."

"Go on," said the commissioner.

"Right before the Dual Horn attacked… the scenery of the battle changed. It morphed into Midgar and a reactor. The same reactor that blew," she said in a low voice.

"That's… that seems highly unlikely, Yuffie."

"So you're saying you don't believe me?" she scowled.

The older man sighed and paced. "You've been under a lot of stress lately, Yuffie. It could've just been your brain telling you that it wasn't ready to get back to fighting or overexerting itself."

"Look, the reason why I resorted to the materia was because I was thrown by the change of scenery in the simulator and the fucking Dual Horn was about ready to gore me. I had already weakened it and I would've finished it off but then I was thrown back to that day!" Yuffie hissed, standing as her anger grew. "Now please tell me, Reeve, am I crazy or is it possible for the computer to do something like this on its own?"

Vincent stepped away from the window and moved into her line of sight, his heart beating oddly at seeing her eyes shimmering. "Reeve… would someone be able to access the computer from outside and change the settings of the simulator?"

Reeve thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "If they were computer savvy, yes, it would be possible. They could've patched in through a computer from the WRO or using a signal from outside. I think I need to go and investigate this further. If someone did this to torment you, Yuffie, believe me when I say that I will find them."

Yuffie nodded and sat back down onto the bed, the tears slipping from her eyes against her will. She kept her face averted from Vincent and Reeve cleared his throat.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay, Yuffie. I'll be heading to my office and we will get to the bottom of this. Meanwhile, I think it would be best for someone to train with you… for your own safety."

Vincent glanced over at Reeve and noted the glint in the other man's eyes, which nearly caused him to roll his own. "I will take over Yuffie's training from now on. We will be using the outskirts of the city so that the materia use does not get out of hand."

Yuffie's eyes snapped to his incredulously and she started to shake her head. "Vincent, you don't have to do that. I can train by myself—"

"Clearly, you cannot," Vincent interrupted and watched as Yuffie's cheeks colored a bright red in her anger.

"Don't you dare treat me like a child, Vincent Valentine!" she huffed, jumping to her feet.

Reeve sighed and began to back away toward the door. "Yuffie, I'm going to see if anything was salvaged from the simulator that can help us answer questions. In the meantime, go home and get some rest."

With those parting words, the commissioner made a hasty retreat. Yuffie stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut, hoping that Vincent would be gone be the time she went back outside. But it was wishful thinking… Vincent had stayed put.

"It's not my intention to treat you like a child."

"And yet you keep doing it. If I wanted a father, Vincent, I would go back home," Yuffie said, picking up the prescriptions the doctor had left for her on the table near the bed.

"I don't want you to see me as your father," he murmured.

Yuffie froze at his quiet words and slowly turned to look at him. A pleasant chill raced through her body when she saw his eyes on hers, crimson clear of his old demons. "Then how should I see you?" she asked, voice just as quiet as his. Her heart thundered in her chest as she watched his lips part…

But they were interrupted by a knock on the door before it opened to reveal Tifa.

"Yuffie! I'm so glad you're okay! I never should've left you alone," Tifa gasped out, rushing to her. Satisfied to see nothing more than a few scratches and bandages, she stepped back and looked over at Vincent. "Hi, Vincent. I didn't see you there."

"Tifa," the gunman greeted, his eyes sliding from her to Yuffie.

Yuffie held her breath as their eyes met and held once more. What did this mean? Was he interested in being something more to her? Maybe she was the delusional one. She put on a forced smile and turned to Tifa. "Can we go home?"

The brunette nodded and watched her walk out the door before she turned to look at Vincent. "Will you be coming with us?"

Vincent looked away from the door and shook his head. "I will help Reeve investigate what went on in the simulator. Then I will return to your home, if that's okay."

"That's fine. Hopefully you can make it for dinner," she said with a bright smile. "I'm sure Yuffie will be more than happy to have you around again."

Vincent let out a small breath after the woman had left the room before following her. He caught sight of Yuffie signing off on some papers at the nurse station and he scowled at the pale tinge to her face. He _would_ be returning to Seventh Heaven, if only to make sure that she was following the doctor's orders for more rest.

Her eyes fell on him and he had to admit that even with the cuts and scrapes, the too pale skin, and the strained look in her eyes, she was beautiful. Her beauty so different from Lucrecia's, but none the less just as eye catching.

The ninja offered him a bittersweet smile as she stepped past him, but before she could move away completely, he caught her wrist. He didn't know how or why, but he knew he needed to say something to her in that moment.

"Vincent?" she asked, eyes searching his face after his abrupt action.

His fingers slid from her wrist to her own digits, her hand warm in his. "We will… finish our conversation later."

Her lips parted in surprise before he turned and walked away, heading toward the main building of the WRO.

Her cheeks flushed at Tifa's knowing look and she turned and walked away. _Leviathan, what the hell did he mean? _

…

…

…

…

Yay! I'm so sorry that I've been gone for so long, but the muse has been a fickle thing these last few months. But I'm slowly getting back into the swing of writing and I'm hoping that I still have readers with me. I know this story has been moving a bit slow but from this chapter on, we'll see some progress between Yuffie and Vincent. Not many chapters are left anyway, so I'll do my best to get the rest out soon. Hope everyone is having a great new year!

Oh, and I will put up a poll later to see what stories readers would like to see updated next.


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